‘History is the fruit of power, but power itself is never so transparent that its analysis becomes superfluous’. Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past, (1995)

The Contested Histories research cluster brings together scholars from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds to analyse how competing visions of the past have been mobilised by political and social actors across time and space. We are interested in exploring how the struggle for hegemony over narratives of the past is integral to the struggle for political power in the present. In particular, we are keen to explore the contrasts and commonalities in how this dynamic plays out in different temporal and geographical contexts around the world.

Our research group aims to:

• Foster collaboration with colleagues within and beyond the university on the topic of ‘Contested Histories’.
• Provide a safe and supportive space for members to workshop concepts for grants and publications.
• Build a research culture and profile that can form the bedrock for international collaborative research projects.
• Intervene in academic and public discourse on questions of contested pasts and their presents.
• Promote and disseminate the work of members and associates as widely as possible so that our research gets the international recognition it deserves.

We encourage anyone with an interest in the broad theme of Contested History to join us as a member (colleagues based in Maynooth) or an associate (colleagues at other institutions). If you would like to participate in the group’s activities, please contact one of the group co-leads: Prof Dónal Hassett donal.hassett@mu.ie or Dr Eoghan Moloney eoghan.moloney@mu.ie