1st Edition

History in a Post-Truth World Theory and Praxis

Edited By Marius Gudonis, Benjamin T. Jones Copyright 2021
    330 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    330 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    History in a Post-Truth World: Theory and Praxis explores one of the most significant paradigm shifts in public discourse. A post-truth environment that appeals primarily to emotion, elevates personal belief, and devalues expert opinion has important implications far beyond Brexit or the election of Donald Trump, and has a profound impact on how history is produced and consumed. Post-truth history is not merely a synonym for lies. This book argues that indifference to historicity by both the purveyor and the recipient, contempt for expert opinion that contradicts it, and ideological motivation are its key characteristics.

    Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this work explores some of the following questions: What exactly is post-truth history? Does it represent a new phenomenon? Does the historian have a special role to play in preserving public memory from ‘alternative facts’? Do academics more generally have an obligation to combat fake news and fake history both in universities and on social media? How has a ‘post-truth culture’ impacted professional and popular historical discourse? Looking at theoretical dimensions and case studies from around the world, this book explores the violent potential of post-truth history and calls on readers to resist.

    Foreword

    Henry Rousso

    1. Who Controls the Past?

    Marius Gudonis and Benjamin T. Jones

    Part 1: What Is Post-Truth?: Theoretical Considerations

    2. Post-Truth as Crisis of Trust and Critical Source Assessment

    Jędrzej Czerep

    3. Post-Truth and Consequences

    Adam Chmielewski

    4. The Post-Truth Condition and Social Distribution of Knowledge: On Some Dilemmas with Post-Truth Uses

    Rafał Paweł Wierzchosławski

    Part 2: Case Studies of Post-Truth

    5. Pinkersonian Post-Truth: History, Ideology, and Postmodernism

    Adrian Wesołowski

    6. Denying the Stolen Generations: What Happens to Indigenous History in a Post-Truth World?

    Benjamin T. Jones

    7. The Oldest Post-Truth?: The Rise of Antisemitism in America and Beyond

    Gerald J. Steinacher

    8. Post-Truth and the Construction of Representations of the Past: The Theory of the Two Demons and the Case of Argentina

    Daniel Feierstein

    9. The Post-Truth Environment: Indian Politics and History Education

    Basabi Khan Banerjee and Georg Stöber

    10. Business as Usual: Feminist History in a Post-Truth World

    Alana Piper and Ana Stevenson

    11. "I’m Not Even Making That Up": Myths About Moriori and Denials of Indigeneity in New Zealand

    André Brett

    Part 3: The Truth About "Post-Truth": Evaluation and Response

    12. Trump, Fascism, and Historians in the Post-Truth Era

    Ben Mercer

    13. Decolonising Historiography in South Africa: Reflecting on "Post-Truth" Relevance 25 Years Since Mandela

    June Bam-Hutchison

    14. Museums as Critical Spaces for Alterity in a Post-Truth World

    Andrea Gallardo Ocampo and Miguel A. Híjar-Chiapa

    15. Academic Activism in the Age of Post-Truth: How Do Genocide Scholars Respond to Denial?

    Marius Gudonis

    16. Essence of Post-Truth History and Ways to Respond

    Marius Gudonis and Benjamin T. Jones

    Biography

    Marius Gudonis is a PhD candidate at Collegium Civitas University, Poland.

    Benjamin T. Jones is a lecturer in history at Central Queensland University and a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Studies Institute.