Historical expert commissions and their politics

Abstract

Though calling on historians and other experts to re-examine the past in order to resolve current political disputes has become increasingly popular among political leaders, historical expert commissions (HEC) remain a relatively under-conceptualized phenomenon in current scholarship. This chapter therefore starts with suggesting ways in which we might study this mechanism of state-sponsored history in a more conceptually informed and systematic way. A basic framework is developed that sorts HECs along historical situations and basic organizational features, providing the backdrop for a discussion of cases from around the globe. Particular attention is paid to the complex interactions between historical experts and “the state” during different stages of an HEC’s operation. The chapter ends with preliminary reflections on how to assess such commissions’ impact.