Postsocialism as a Crime
The Role of Police Memory in the Remembrance of the Post-1989 Systemic Changes in the Czech Republic
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6186091 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Veronika Pehe (0000-0003-2732-5449, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Contemporary History, corresponding author), Petr Kupka (0000-0001-8581-1002, University of West Bohemia), Václav Walach (0000-0003-2643-7633, University of West Bohemia) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 2-3 |
| Pages | 289-314 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | East Central Europe (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0094-3037 • E-ISSN: 1876-3308 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.30965/18763308-51020008 |
| OpenAlex | W4403929177 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
The decade of the 1990s has become a significant topic of cultural memory in postsocialist countries, including the Czech Republic. One of the most pervasive interpretive frames of this period of recent history, present across various media, is that of “crime.” This article argues that such a framing is supported by the police, an institution with considerable power to shape shared notions about the recent past. The interpretation of the first postsocialist decade as criminal in nature is demonstrated through the example of the Czech true-crime tv series Devadesátky (The Nineties, 2022). The Nineties is analyzed using three key concepts. “Plurimedial networks” help explain how the series became a powerful medium of memory. “Police memorialization” is used to show how the memory of postsocialism is constructed through the motif of crime from the perspective of the police and what its political implications are. “Police culture” provides a source for a critical reflection on police memory, revealing vested interests behind particular narrative representations of reality-based past events such as those depicted in The Nineties
Ancient history · Criminology · Modern history · Political science · Sociology · European history and politics · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · History · Soviet and Russian History
“Everybody criticizes police, but nobody criticizes museums”
From legal definitions to ethnic identities
Theft of the Nation
Taking stock of shock
Event-making the past
Framing the Collective Memory of the 1990s as a Legitimation Tool for Putin’s Regime
Lustration and Democratisation in East-Central Europe
Yugonostalgia
Maintaining legitimacy using external communication strategies
Taking stock
The commemoration of death, organizational memory, and police culture
The Power of Legitimate Naming
Emotions and Memory Politics in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe
The Wild 1990s
Crime, policing and social order
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |