Now that the Department of Homeland Security is sending federal troops to defend American monuments, memorials and statues, this week’s Cold War Spaces interview is dedicated to monuments, more specifically the toppling of Communist monuments following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the toppling of Confederate monuments in the wake of the demonstrations against structural racism and police brutality. It’s a double interview with Benjamin Forest, Associate Professor at the Geography Department, and Juliet Johnson, Professor at the Political Science Department, both at McGill University, Montreal. Forest specializes in the geographical nature of identity and identifications, and the political representation and construction of race, ethnicity, and nationality. Johnson focuses on the politics of money and identity, particularly in post-communist Europe. Forest and Johnson published together about post-communist and confederate monuments.
Under the title “Contested Space: Communist and Confederate Monuments” we are going to discuss the parallels and differences between 1989 and 2020 in regard to dealing with a problematic canon of collective memory in public space.
Please note that this double interview will take 40 minutes, followed by 20 minutes Q&A.
Wednesday, July 22, 12 p.m. Pacific Time. RSVP link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2815943392581/WN_Fvr0IvKBRFaHSJA3_aJfLw
To view earlier recorded episodes:
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7073507
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