Statement on Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine (updated)

Dear visitors of our website,

Like many of you, we of the “Conspiratorial Memory” research team, are dismayed by the unprovoked and ongoing war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. We stand with the people of Ukraine in their defense of the sovereignty of their country, and with all the people in Russia and Belarus who suffer government prosecution due to their opposition to this senseless war.

We have been emotionally invested in these recent events, seeing how colleagues, friends and family members in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus were affected —in different ways and to different degrees — by military violence and political repression.

We are also intellectually invested. We firmly believe that this new wave of military and political aggression asks for a deeper understanding of the role of (popular, state-backed, digital) culture in shaping the historical and conspiratorial imaginations that – in part – made this war possible. It is out of this commitment that we are currently redefining the focus and stakes of our project. These reconsiderations will be reflected on our website soon.

Boris Noordenbos, Anna Greszta, Maria Plichta and Ilya Malafei