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The Urban Geopolitics of Memory: War, Destruction and Reconstruction in Cities.Auditorium 2, Eilert Sundts hus
This lecture explores how urban spaces are reshaped during and after conflicts, highlighting the relationships between geopolitics, the built environment, and memory politics. By examining the destruction and reconstruction of cities in Europe and the Middle East, it argues that these processes are deeply intertwined with power struggles, memory conflicts, and symbolic violence. The lecture traces how such urban reconfigurations spatialize memory battles between groups, often leading to enforced erasures, amnesia, and silencing. Through a multiscalar approach, the lecture investigates the interactions between local, national, and international actors in the spatial reconfiguration process. Drawing on experiences from wars in cities such as Belgrade, Sarajevo, and Beirut, it underscores the role of international interventions in reshaping both urban landscapes and domestic memory politics. Finally, the lecture shows that rebuilding efforts influence how urban communities process their traumatic pasts and envision their futures.
Gruia Bădescu is a Research Fellow at the Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, and, for the 2024-2025 academic year, a Fellow at the Paris Institute for Advanced Study. He holds a PhD from the Centre for Urban Conflicts Research at the University of Cambridge and was previously a lecturer and research associate in human geography at the University of Oxford. His research examines cities after war and dictatorship, with a particular focus on post-war reconstruction and spatial memory-work. Since 2020, he has led a research group at the Zukunftskolleg on the reshaping of cities and urban imaginaries after political ruptures. He is a founder and convener of the Memory, Space and Place working group of the Memory Studies Association.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Moltke Moes vei 31, 0851 Oslo, Norway, Moltke Moes vei 31, 0851 Oslo, Norge,Oslo, Norway
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