The assassination of Georg Floyd can be considered as a history-changing event, resonating globally, bringing to our attention new ways of claiming public space. The circulation of the video of the event has revealed the existence of police violence and institutional racism in present day politics.  The increased public visibility contributes to the constitution of a global community of emotions and mobilizations. The appearance of new actors, Black Lives Matter Movement transforms social relations of race in Western contexts. The historical legacy of monuments, as material markers of slavery and colonial past, is contested.  The preservation or destruction of statues becomes a controversial issue, both in American and European cities. The claims on public space reveal the transformation of social relations of power in multicultural societies, as well as in post-colonial and post-communist contexts. 

This case study brings forth several questions. The national narratives and prevalent norms of race, religion and gender fall short of providing inclusive pluralistic societies.  Is there a common repertoire of personal feelings leading to collective actions? What is the role of monuments and images in public (un)making? We hope in bringing different disciplines together to open up our readings of public space from the vantage point of mobilizations, monuments and memory.

December 4^th, 2020, 3pm to 5pm (CET)

Nilüfer Göle: Agency, destruction and public space

David Freedberg: Destruction of monuments  

Mechtild Widrich: Destruction as Decolonization? The Current Debate in the US

Manos Tsakiris: A body of evidence: from visual politics to visceral politics

Discussion