Reframing Memory and Reconciliation

Presented by the Carter School's Sustainable Peace Lab

Title: Reframing Memory and Reconciliation: Universality, Narratives, Civicsara Movements, and Cultural Representation 

This session examines how memory and reconciliation are constructed, contested, and negotiated across diverse historical and cultural contexts. It consists of two theoretically oriented presentations and two case studies focusing on East Asia. The presentations address a range of themes, including the role of universal principles in fostering reconciliation, the coexistence of plural historical narratives, civic movements, and the dynamics of Japan–South Korea relations—particularly in the context of the Kim Dae-jung Incident—and the contested national symbolism of cultural properties shaped by institutional framing and collective memories in Japan and South Korea. Together, the panel offers interdisciplinary insights into how collective memory is shaped and how it functions in processes of reconciliation beyond national and regional boundaries. 

Facilitator: Rita Z. Nazeer-Ikeda, Affiliate Faculty, Carter School; Research Fellow, Waseda University 

Speakers: 

• Dr. Sašo Dolinšek (Osaka University) is a Slovenian researcher of philosophy whose work focuses on anarchism in Japan. 
• Dr. Hisashi Shigematsu (Vytautas Magnus University) is a Lithuania-based historian who specializes in modern and contemporary history as well as collective memory in Central and Eastern Europe. 
• Dr. Yeojoo Jeon (The University of Tokyo) is a political scientist focusing on postwar memory, Japan–ROK relations, and East Asian reconciliation. 
• Mr. Keitoku Ikegami (International Christian University) majors in Peace Studies and works at Kyoto University of the Arts to realize peace through art. 

Chair: Dr. Hisashi Shigematsu 

Discussant: Professor Karina Korostelina, Director, Sustainable Peace Lab, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

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