Lund, Sweden
Remembering and Forgetting:
The political and social aftermath of intense conflict in Eastern Asia and Northern Europe
By Robert Cribb and Michael Schoenhals
The twentieth century has seen many cases of brutal repression by governments of both the Left and the Right. Civil war, wholesale execution, mass exile, and systematic discrimination against ethnic and political groups have marred the history of dozens of countries. As the century draws to a close, we can be pleased that the period of acute conflict and repression seems to have ended in many countries, even though we recognize that it is at its height in others. Despite the lessening of conflict and repression in many countries, however, the political, social, and psychological trauma of repression lives on to blight the process of democratic transition.On 15-17 April 1999, some twenty-three scholars gathered in Lund, Sweden, to discuss the aftermath of intense political conflict in five regions: Finland, the Baltic states, Mongolia, China, and Indonesia. The conference was organized by Michael Schoenhals (Centre for East and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Lund) and Robert Cribb (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies). As well as tackling one of the most difficult issues in political memory in the late twentieth century, the conference was intended to promote contact between scholars working on similar themes in Asia and Europe.
Three papers outlined the little-known Finnish civil war of 1918, in which tens of thousands died. They described the gradual and incomplete process by which the War has come to be seen as a shared national catastrophe rather than as a simple victory of Whites over Reds. Two papers discussed the way in which repression and population displacement during the Soviet era have bedevilled the Baltic states' relations with both Russia and their own Russian minorities.
Papers on Inner and Outer Mongolia described the Chinese and Soviet repression of Mongolian identity and the difficulties of recording the extent of atrocities when the authorities are reluctant to sanction a search for truth. The papers on China reflected especially on the Nanjing massacre of 1937 and the Cultural revolution, but also discussed issues such as the status of former heroes and their families in a rapidly changing society.
Finally the papers on Indonesia discussed remembered and forgotten pogroms against Chinese residents, problems in official memorials to the past, and the still suppressed memories of the mass killings of 1965-66.
This combination of five regions proved to be a remarkably fertile basis for comparisons. Discussion focused on issues of memory, on the importance of remembering the past so as not to repeat it, and on the difficult issue of loss as a crippling factor in societies which are at some point on a road towards democratization. The participants discussed the role of truth-seeking, contrition and compensation in seeking solution to the legacy of intense conflict, but we concluded the conference with the sobering observation that effectiveness of such measure remains unproven.
Papers from the conference can be read at http://www.lu.se/ace/trauma/.
Prof. Robert Cribb, Director, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Leifsgade 33, 2300
Copenhagen-S, Denmark
Tel.: +45-32-54 88 44
Fax: +45-32-96 25 30
E-mail: cribb@nias.ku.dk
Dr Michael Schoenhals is Director of the Centre for East and Southeast Asian Studies, Lund University. He can be reached at michael.schoenhals@ace.lu.se.