Entangled histories: Rewriting the history of central and south-eastern Europe from a relational perspective

Abstract:

The collapse of the communist regime in Central and South-Eastern Europe gave way to sweeping economic and socio-political changes, marked by the conversion of centrally planned state economies into market economies, political liberalisation and democratisation, as well as to integration into European and Euro-Atlantic security and political organisations. These changes have also affected the pattern of inter-state relations in these regions. Due to an increasing political collaboration, countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe are today linked by a dense network of inter-governmental agreements which have changed the nature of inter-state relations in the region by fostering co-operation rather than conflict. An important part of this process of political transformation has been the recuperation of the historical memory, especially of those aspects that had been censored under the communist regimes.