Dr. James Pearce - Tuesday, 6 June 2023, 19.00-20.30
Russia has been described as a country walking forwards facing backwards. The past is very present in the halls of the Kremlin, and surrounds the Russian public from their bus stops, through school, bookshops, parks and all the way home to their television screens. Russia’s national history is inseparable from the politics of Putinism, often serving as a policy and a unification tool in society. In the Russian state’s view, patriotism goes hand in hand with accepting the ‘right’ historical narrative, and should, ideally, form the basis of society’s worldview. More recently, Russia’s past became the backdrop for invading Ukraine.
However, using the past to project a bright future and secure legitimacy is the historical norm in Russia – and much of today’s narrative is recycled. In his talk Dr James Pearce will look at the use of history in contemporary Russia under the reign of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. He will consider whether history has become a replacement for ideology and public politics in lieu of a vision for Russia’s future. He will unpack what the ‘right' narratives are in contrast to the suppressed and past alternatives, and assess its impact in civil society. Finally, Dr Pearce will consider what the implications of the invasion mean for the future of a ‘shared history’ with the former Soviet republics.
Dr. James C. Pearce is a cultural historian of Russia at the College of West Anglia. Dr. Pearce previously worked at the University of Liverpool and the College of the Marshall Islands, and lived in Russia for almost a decade. He is the author of The Use of History in Putin’s Russia, and has written on Russian memory politics, historical narratives, education policy and historical anniversaries. He is currently writing a history of Russia’s Golden Ring Cities and is an occasional contributor to The Moscow Times.