The ‘Historians without Borders: the Use and Abuse of History in Conflicts’ conference, held in Helsinki on 19-20 May 2016, concluded with the launch of the international Historians without Borders network. The conference led to the signing of a declaration guiding the network’s activities, which already has hundreds of signatories. The conference also appointed a committee to coordinate the work of the network.
You can read the declaration in English below, or download it in PDF format here.
We invite you to join the international Historians without Borders network by signing the declaration.
Wanting to promote and deepen the general understanding of history;
Calling on historians to defuse conflicts by sharing knowledge about history in conflict-resolution
processes;
Recognizing the role of historians in reconciling divergent views about historical events by promoting
interactive dialogue between differing interpretations of history;
Concerned about how insufficient historical knowledge and understanding leaves people vulnerable to
the misuse of historical narratives and impedes their ability to see into the future;
Emphasizing the need for concentrated efforts to counteract the misuse of history;
Appealing to governments and legislatures to refrain from unilaterally passing resolutions and legislation
on controversial interpretations of historical events;
Underlining that an understanding approach to historical monuments should leave an environment
where traces of all our history can be seen and in due time serve as focal points for understanding our
common past;
Stressing the importance of open and free access to historical material and archives;
Welcoming the initiative of Historians without Borders in Finland to convene the international
conference Historians without Borders: the Use and Abuse of History in Conflicts;
Meeting in Helsinki at this conference we have agreed to continue working together in order to
and have today decided to establish an international network of Historians without Borders.
Historians without Borders invites all professional historians and others working with historical
issues and international relations, who are willing to build better mutual understanding of
history and want to prevent the misuse of history to create and foster conflicts, to join our
network.
The network will establish a roster of historians who are available as independent scholars and
experts to work in commissions, working groups and other fora in aid of promoting a culture
of peace, confidence-building, mediation and conflict resolution.
The network will promote and engage in independent and cross-border study of historical
conflicts.
We have appointed an international coordinating committee with Jan C. Behrends, Carl Bildt,
Vasu Gounden, Margaret MacMillan, Erkki Tuomioja, Christina Twomey and Sergei Zhuravlev
as members to guide the work of the network.
The committee can also co-opt new members to enhance the geographical and gender
representation. A full meeting of the network will be convened next year to take stock and
decide on the future structures of the network.
The network welcomes the contribution that Historians without Borders in Finland is prepared
to extend to the network at its initial stage in the form of secretarial services.
Agreed in Helsinki 20th of May 2016
Historians without Borders in Finland promotes historical awareness, historical debate and the use of historical information for conflict prevention and resolution. The association was founded in 2015.
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00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
Registration number: 215.568
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