Thread by @tzimmer_history

The 21st-Century History Wars #GEST535

As we are entering Week 4, a quick recap of what we’ve done so far, for everyone who wants to follow along and catch up.

https://twitter.com/tzimmer_history/status/1489305230051270665

In Week 2, we started with a look at some big-picture takes on the History Wars and a broader reflection on the question: Why is everybody talking about history? The goal was to raise questions rather than to find final answers – an attempt to refine our agenda. #GEST535

The discussion focused on two pieces by historians Timothy Snyder and Matthew Karp that try to offer a broader diagnosis of what the History Wars tell us about American politics, society, and culture right at this current moment. #GEST535

Snyder starts in Russia, where strict “memory laws” prescribe a nationalist version of the past that serves the interest of the Putin regime. Snyder then emphasizes how the memory laws that are being introduced in Republican-led states function similarly. #GEST535

“What would you call it if it were happening elsewhere?” has become something of cliché since the Trump years – but Snyder employs that heuristic effectively, basically asking the American public: If you can see it in Russia, can you also see it at home? #GEST535

Matthew Karp, on the other hand, focuses on changing Liberal attitudes towards the American past. He argues that it’s actually Liberals, much more so than Conservatives, who are currently obsessed with history. #GEST535

According to Karp, the Liberal focus on origin stories like the 1619 Project and on ideas of “original sin” leads to a re-telling of America’s past as an essentially continuous unfolding of the country’s supposedly racist DNA. #GEST535

Karp interprets this as evidence of Liberals abandoning any idea of progress: Nothing will ever change, all you can hope for is a “reckoning” – a drastic change from the progress Liberalism of the 90s and the Obama era to liberal historicism, basically. #GEST535

I think I disagree with Karp’s diagnosis – we’ll talk more about this when we’re discussing the 1619 Project, in particular. But I appreciate the attempt to use the History Wars as a window into the broader intellectual and ideological landscape of the nation. #GEST535

A recap of Week 3 is coming later today, and then we’ll be all caught up with where we currently stand. There’ll be weekly recaps from now on through the end of the semester. #GEST535

As always, here’s the original #GEST535 thread that contains all the general information on the course, the ideas and questions behind it, and links to all the different spin-off threads I’ll be posting throughout the semester:

https://twitter.com/tzimmer_history/status/1489305230051270665