Contextualizing past heroes

The dilemma of negotiating the postcolonial legacy in Norway

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6423484
AutoresM Andersson (0000-0001-5062-3992, University of Oslo), Kjell Erling Kjellman (University of Oslo)
Ano2025
Volume12
Fascículo3
Páginas248-267
Data de publicação2025-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEuropean Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2325-4815 • E-ISSN: 2325-4823
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1162/ecps.a.6
OpenAlexW4414596296
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas26

This article analyses the reactions of antiracist activists to public debates about memorials following the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020. Based on 47 in-depth interviews with Norwegian antiracist activists, we examine three debates about memorials in two Norwegian cities. Theoretically, the concepts of connected histories and reflexive transnationalization inform our analysis, supplemented by a discussion of the relationship between European colonialism and the Nordic context. Our analysis suggests that Norwegian antiracists are ambivalent regarding these highly mediatized debates over memorials. While they believe that such debates are important in challenging portrayals of Norwegian history, they also fear that a focus on symbolic politics may damage antiracist efforts. We conclude by suggesting how an existing national self-understanding of innocence is challenged and better understood through an examination of the intersection between connected histories and existing national narratives

Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration