Law as a tool of collective memory formation: A study of Ukrainian “decommunisation laws”

Abstract

Among several issues with Ukrainian collective memory of its Communist period, this study specifically addressed the one of lack of a coherent approach to the formation of such memory. The purpose of this study was to identify whether the “decommunisation laws”, adopted in 2015, provided Ukrainian memory entrepreneurs with sufficiently robust tools to build a politics of memory that would be equally applicable across the country. To this end, this study adopted the process tracing method, highlighting the case study of the drafting and adoption of the “decommunisation laws” by relevant stakeholders and the Ukrainian Parliament. Having investigated the preparatory works of these laws and their adoption, it was found that the question of centralisation played a significant role in the establishment of a coherent collective memory of Communism in Ukraine. More specifically, the fact that Members of Parliament pursued a decentralisation-driven agenda resulted in an impediment to the creation of a robust approach to Ukrainian memory of communism. It was also found that the decommunisation package granted Ukrainian memory policymakers several tools to shape the population’s memory of Communism, such as the renaming of toponyms related to Communism, opening access to the archives of the Communist regime, demolition of monuments praising Communist “heroes”, and institutionalisation of a Remembrance Day for victims of totalitarian regimes. Despite these findings, this study concluded that Ukrainian the “decommunisation laws” require a reform to achieve harmonisation considering the country’s aspirations for European integration. The findings of this study can serve as a basis for further recommendatory research on the matter of coherence in Ukrainian memory politics. Researchers might apply these findings to other events with domestically problematic memories or use them to suggest potential reforms to align Ukrainian collective memory of Communism with those of its European partners

Keywords

• memory studies
• historical memory legislation
• memory policy instruments
• decentralisation
• reforms