Bonavero Institute Co-Hosts a workshop on freedom of expression, national identity, and memory laws
Last week, an international group of scholars gathered in Oxford to explore how legal systems engage with historical memory, particularly during and after transitions from authoritarian regimes. The workshop, co-hosted by the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights and the Academy for European Human Rights Protection at the University of Cologne, examined the persistent tensions between freedom of expression, national identity, and memory laws across Europe and more widely, including South Africa and Latin America.
The roundtable formed part of the MEMOCRACY project, a collaborative research project based at the Universities of Cologne, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and the Polish Academy of the Sciences. The two-day event fostered a rich, transdisciplinary dialogue about the meaning of the past for modern democracies in both law and politics. The MEMOCRACY team was led by Professor Angelika Nussberger, former judge of the European Court of Human Rights (2011 - 2019) and a member of the Advisory Council of the Bonavero Institute, Professor Maria Mälksoo, from the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen and Dr Alexandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias from the Institute of Law Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Bonavero team was led by its Director, Professor Kate O’Regan.
Thanks to all participants for their insightful contributions: Maike Middeler, Andrii Nekoliak, Kate O’Regan, Michael Riepl, Cathérine Van de Graaf, Koen Lemmens, Gavin Phillipson, Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias, Jasmin Wachau, Paula Rhein-Fischer, Angelika Nussberger, Flávia Oliveira Ribeiro, Joseph Finnerty, Maria Mälksoo, Anna Stepanskaja and Ivo Gruev.