MSCA Doctoral Networks 2027

Nostalgia, Law and Democracy in Europe: Germany and Lithuania in Comparative Perspective

I offer expertise in the legal and political dimensions of historical memory, with a particular focus on nostalgia, post-socialist legacies, memory laws and democratic resilience. I am interested in joining an MSCA Doctoral Network consortium that examines how idealised memories of former political systems shape contemporary democratic values, political identities and perceptions of European security.

A promising comparative perspective would connect Ostalgie in eastern Germany with nostalgia for the Soviet past in Lithuania, while accounting for their distinct historical contexts. The research could explore how nostalgia is constructed and contested through law, public institutions, education, monuments and digital media, and when it becomes a resource for political mobilisation or historical disinformation.

As Professor at Mykolas Romeris University and Head of the Memory and Justice Research Center, I would contribute expertise in memory law, Soviet occupation and repression, transitional justice, European human rights law, and the use of historical narratives in contemporary security contexts. I would welcome collaboration with German partners in legal studies, history, sociology and cultural memory research, including joint doctoral supervision, comparative research and interdisciplinary training.

My aim is to connect the study of nostalgia with urgent European questions concerning democracy, historical responsibility, the rule of law and security.