Elisa Tarnaala is a docent of Social History at the University of Helsinki and works as a senior advisor at CMI Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation. By education, Elisa is a social historian who has a doctoral dissertation in the field of comparative politics.
Elisa has studied the societal effects of war, conflicts, and revolutions, especially the consequences of these upheavals on social and political movements, as well as on the agency of communities. Her dissertation focused on the interwar period in Europe examining the complex trajectories of four states that gained independence after World War I from the perspectives of democracy, authoritarianism, polarization, and political coalitions. In her subsequent research, she has explored the generational and transnational dimensions of political protest and repression in Latin America. She has studied the period from the decades of the Cold War to the years of the fight against terrorism, with a particular focus on young activists, the forcibly disappeared in conflict, human rights organizations, and their relationship with the state. As a historian, she is interested in how the suppression of resistance and political alternatives, as well as human rights violations impact society and its collective memory in the long term.
Working at the intersection of social history, comparative politics, and conflict research (and resolution) allows the integration of analysis of local collective action with the perspectives of international politics. In this approach longer-term tensions and broader historical processes become part of making sense of the causes and dynamics of conflict. In the field of peace mediation, understanding these long-term processes is of prime importance. “I have followed with great interest the activities of the association since its early days. In the field of peace mediation, one of the obstacles to searching reconciliation are the tensions between the narratives of the different parties to the conflict; knowledge based on research; and the demands for pluralism in history writing. These tensions help explaining the difficulty of accepting views outside one’s own group.”
Elisa has collaborated on several projects with local history activists, memory collectives, organizations representing families of the forcibly disappeared, communities affected by conflict, and youth groups, particularly in South America and North Africa. The perspectives of these groups challenge the politics of state history and official memory. “A historical dialogue can open the door to marginal and forbidden stories becoming part of society’s memory of difficult times and transforming them into tools for a new generation to defend a pluralistic society”.
Elisa will start her term of office as a member of the board of Historians without Borders in Finland in 2025 and will serve as one of the association’s vice-chairs.
