INHIST · Inclusive History of East-Central Europe: Mid-19th Century to Present

INHIST is based on the premise that current efforts to build an inclusive society urgently require education that offers an inclusive and multivocal interpretation of our past. Official interpretations of modern European history, especially of East-Central European (ECE) states, are still dominated by a narrow vision of the one-nation state. INHIST offers an alternative in the form of an inclusive history of ECE, in which history from the mid-19th century to present is analyzed from the perspective of three marginalized and internally diverse communities: Roma and Sinti, Jews, and people with disabilities. The project introduces the concept of ‘polyphonic inclusivity,’ inspired by Mikhail Bakhtin, in which intertwined histories of different historical actors are presented without privileging anyone’s voice over another. Geographically, the project focuses on Poland, Ukraine, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. INHIST primarily traces individual and collective efforts at emancipation that show the diverse agency of Roma, Jews, and disabled people in co-shaping the histories of ECE. Methodologically, INHIST pursues an intersectional approach across these three communities and with an emphasis on gender and class, while developing a historical view of everyday life from below and from geographical periphery. Through extensive archival research, INHIST examines previously neglected sources produced by Romani, Jewish, and disabled people, including less-accessible sources in languages including Romanes and Yiddish. The team includes specialists in Romani, Jewish, and disability histories who speak at least ten languages and have also expert knowledge on the history of the individual countries in our focus. INHIST is thus a groundbreaking attempt to radically reinterpret the history of ECE through the paradigm of polyphonic inclusivity that overcomes the ‘methodological nationalism’ and ethnic hierarchies that have so far dominated historiographic research.