Current Fellows

The project conceptualizes memory mobilization as a mechanism linking interpretations of the past to contemporary democratic outcomes. It distinguishes between responsibility-based memory, which emphasizes accountability for past abuses and reinforces norms of pluralism, institutional constraints, and vigilance against concentrations of power, and glorification-based memory, centered on heroic or exclusionary narratives. Each type of memory articulates a normative understanding not only of the past but also of the present and future. When actively mobilized by states, political actors, or civic organizations and embedded in public discourse, these narratives may contribute to strengthening or weakening democratic resilience, rather than merely coexist with it. The project focuses on when and to what effect different types of memory politics (responsibility vs. glorification) and contesting discourses produce varied outcomes in democratic resilience, considering the level of institutionalization of authoritarian memory as a key condition. Using a comparative analysis of Estonia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Germany, the aim is to uncover these mechanisms. Understanding when and where memory infrastructure becomes vulnerable to illiberal capture or instrumentalization has direct policy relevance for ongoing European debates on resilience and the support of democratic norms.