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International Centre for Defence and Security
LMC 2018

Who Owns History?

Democracy, Disinformation, History

A popular argument says that history is too important to be left to the historians. But to whom should we leave the history, then? Who owns history? In our age of fake news and post-truths, it is very timely to ask about the role of history in democracy. History is malleable, it can be twisted and turned, used and abused to suit various needs and ends. History is not only about the past, it also impacts our future. “Who controls the past controls the future” was one of Orwell’s main lessons. Can we, or should we protect history from political, commercial or other kinds of instrumentalisation?

Speakers

Yuri Slezkine
Yuri Slezkine

Jane K. Sather Professor of History, University of Cailfornia Berkeley, Russia

Marek Tamm
Marek Tamm

Professor of Cultural History, Tallinn University, Estonia

Uffe Ellemann-Jensen

Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark

Moderator

Natalie Nougayrède

Editorial Board Member and Columnist, The Guardian, UK

Photos by Annika Haas / Lennart Meri Conference. View all.
Keynote address
Dinner hosted by President Kersti Kaljulaid

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