3rd PoSoCoMeS Conference: Yerevan, Armenia, 22-24 January 2026
Deadline for abstract submissions has been extended to: 15 May 2025
The Post-Socialist and Comparative Memory Studies (PoSoCoMeS) working group is part of the Memory Studies Association. We aim to bring together researchers, activists, and practitioners working in and on post-socialist countries. We call for regional as well as trans-regional comparative studies that connect Eastern Europe and Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and result in broad conceptualizations of post-socialist memories. At our 3rd conference, we aim to explore in particular the theme of
Post-Socialist Memory in Times of Crises and Speculation.
In the face of profound regional crises – military, diplomatic, and humanitarian – the ways in which post-socialist communities – and their leaders – remember and reinterpret the past are undergoing significant transformations. Across the formerly Soviet and socialist world, memory has become an intensely contested space where historical narratives are challenged, appropriated, and weaponized. Far from a repository of shared experiences, memory in the post-socialist space (as in other contexts across the globe) is a dynamic battleground where competing versions of history vie for dominance – a process sometimes closely entwined with current warfare itself.
The conference will place a special emphasis on its venue, devoting additional attention to Armenia and the South Caucasus – an ever-evolving post-socialist region where the field of memory remains in a constant state of flux and remaking. Collective memory in this region functions as a palimpsest, mixing deep historical myths, affinities, and animosities with lingering Soviet-era stereotypes and rapidly shifting contemporary aspirations. Furthermore, Armenia is a land imbued with the memories of displaced populations. In the early twentieth century, it provided refuge to thousands of survivors of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire (1915–1923), while in recent years (2020–2023), it has become a sanctuary for over 120,000 refugees from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), who were forced to flee due to military pressure. The memory of forced migration, in the context of ongoing contemporary crises, introduces new dimensions to the already complex humanitarian, emotional, and legal challenges faced by these populations. This conference invites scholars to critically examine how cultural memory interacts with the postsocialist mnemonic, epistemic, and real-life crises. We encourage contributions that explore the questions/topics specified in our Call for Papers:
https://www.posocomesyerevan2026.com/
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