Historians without Borders launches project on Russian history and memory politics

Historians without Borders in Finland launches History in Exile: Dialogue on Russian Memory and History Politics in the Nordic and Baltic Countries, a project to promote dialogue between historians and history teachers in the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as the public on Russian memory and history politics and its implications for historical research in Russian society. The Nordic Council of Ministers has awarded a grant for the project, which will organize meetings and public events in 2024 and 2025. 

The History in Exile project also aims to highlight the experiences of historians and history teachers of Russian background on the challenges of researching and teaching history in Russia. The project contributes to networking among all historians and history teachers in the Nordic and Baltic countries working at the intersection of history, memory, policy-making and Russian and Eastern European studies.

The project partners in Sweden and Estonia are Swedish Historical Society and Estonian History and Civics Teachers’ Association. Other partners include the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki and EuroClio – European Association of History Educators.

Historians without Borders in Finland is a Finnish NGO founded in 2015 and the secretariat of the international Historians without Borders network. According to the network’s governing declaration, the purpose of the association is to promote general knowledge of history, cross-border cooperation between historians and the use of historical knowledge in conflict resolution. To achieve its objectives, the association carries out projects and organizes events on current issues of history and memory politics. In 2024, the association was awarded the Risto Pelkonen Human Rights Prize of the Council of Finnish Academies.