The War Against the Past: Fighting for our history

The War Against the Past: Fighting for our history

Wednesday 16 October
10:00 – 17:00
Solvay Library, Leopoldpark Rue Belliard 137 1040 Brussels

A war is being waged against the past. Whether it’s toppling statues, decolonising the curriculum or erasing terms from our vocabulary, a cultural crusade is underway designed to render the past toxic. The past is condemned as enemy territory and has become the target of venomous hate. What is at stake in provoking such a strong sense of societal shame towards Western history?

Outwardly, the Culture Wars present themselves as mainly about conflicts over moral values touching on sex, abortion, gender and cultural identity, sovereignty, and race. Disputes about freedom of speech, language use and the different dimensions of human communication often target what they dismiss as outdated norms and ideals. Always lurking behind these conflicts are competing attitudes towards the past.

Join MCC Brussels for a groundbreaking public conference to mark the launch of our executive director Frank Furedi’s latest book, The War Against the Past: Why the West must fight for its history. This event will bring together leading academics and cultural commentators to understand the confront the war being waged on Western history.

The first panel will challenge the attempt to inflict a state of historical amnesia on society. Today’s culture warriors seek to reshape our historical memory so that we perceive the past through a narrative of shame. This has also created a conflict between Western European institutions – who cheerlead the war against the past – with the states of Central and Eastern Europe where historical memory is more resilient.

The second panel addresses decolonization, an ideology increasingly devoted to demonising the legacy of European civilisation. Why has decolonisation gained such traction in the institutions of Western societies? What are the ideological and cultural drivers of this phenomenon?

Another discussion looks at the key battleground of schooling. It seems that today’s education system aims to encourage children to feel guilty about their historical heritage, sometimes feeling almost like anti-Western propaganda. The philosopher Hannah Arendt argued that education is inextricably linked to the project of preserving the past – so what happens when education adopts the opposite project? Can children be truly educated if they are estranged from their culture and national community? How can we ensure that young people are exposed to a perspective that gives them a balanced understanding of their origins and identity?

Join MCC Brussels for this urgent conference to confront the cultural forces reshaping how we understand our history. Featuring leading thinkers and commentators, we’ll dive into the key battles over memory, identity, and the future of education.

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