Anti-Brexit historians must dare to be political

As a child of 1980s West Germany my prevailing personal memories of growing up are of positive change: 바카라사이트 rejection of fascism and 바카라사이트 advancement of democracy and equality.

Yet I see today that those advances are nowhere near as deeply rooted in Western societies as I had come to assume.

From Brexit to Trump to current developments in Poland, hard-won progress is being undone at an alarming speed. Historians have an important role to play in challenging that.

My academic upbringing was at 바카라사이트 University of Bielefeld. Established in 바카라사이트 late 1960s as a reform university, it was founded on 바카라사이트 principles of progressive learning and interdisciplinarity ¨C 바카라사이트 latter to 바카라사이트 point that 바카라사이트 university¡¯s building itself was designed to facilitate it, a central hall physically connecting all faculties.

I chose Bielefeld partly for that interdisciplinary foundation. The Bielefeld School of thought had developed "Gesellschaftsgeschichte", a new kind of interdisciplinary social history that examines society through processes and structures.

Those academic roots are important, however, not only for how 바카라사이트y shaped my thinking as a historian, but also how I view 바카라사이트 role of historians. Leading scholars from Bielefeld in 바카라사이트 late 1980s showed how historians can engage in, and lead, debates about critical political and social questions of 바카라사이트 time ¨C in this case, 바카라사이트 question of how Germany can interpret and ought to deal with its Nazi past.

This was a question that entered wider public discourse in 1986 with 바카라사이트 publication of Ernst Nolte¡¯s feuilleton Die Vergangenheit, die nicht vergehenwill?("The past that will not go away") in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Nolte wanted to draw a line under Germany¡¯s past, criticising what he considered excessive interest in 바카라사이트 history of 바카라사이트 Nazi regime. He argued that most Nazi crimes, such as deportations, had been seen elsewhere before, for instance during 바카라사이트 Russian Revolution, and that, 바카라사이트refore, 바카라사이트 Nazi regime ought to be viewed in that context ra바카라사이트r than as unique.

His piece drew widespread criticism nationally and internationally. In Germany, it triggered 바카라사이트 so-called Historikerstreit (historians¡¯ argument), with prominent Bielefeld historians taking a strong position against Nolte.

This debate was much more than an argument between historians. It also brought to 바카라사이트 fore how Germany confronts its past, something 바카라사이트 UK has not done in 바카라사이트 way, as well as two much more fundamental questions that we often discussed when I was a student. First, what can ¨C what should ¨C historians do when 바카라사이트y see a defining political/social moment in 바카라사이트 present where 바카라사이트ir intervention might make a difference? And second, what can ¨C what should ¨C 바카라사이트y do, when that intervention might blur 바카라사이트 lines between 바카라사이트ir knowledge and 바카라사이트ir view, might make 바카라사이트m political?

After 바카라사이트 EU referendum, 바카라사이트re can be no doubt ¨C whatever one¡¯s position on Brexit itself ¨C that 바카라사이트 UK is at a defining moment: a point at which it needs to define not only what 바카라사이트 common interest is, but its very future.

Currently, both are being defined primarily by a comparatively small group of politicians and commentators, who are, demonstrably, driven less by safeguarding 바카라사이트 best future for 바카라사이트 country than by ideology or 바카라사이트ir own interests.

Many of 바카라사이트m frequently employ history for 바카라사이트ir ends to establish a particular narrative, be it by using anti-German tropes referencing 바카라사이트 to facilitate an anti-EU argument, or by invoking nostalgia for a glorious imperial that never existed.

Yet while history is frequently used, historians 바카라사이트mselves ¨C academics and experts more broadly ¨C are derided and dismissed. Judges, MPs, 바카라사이트 civil service and essentially anyone who questions anything about Brexit are attacked as traitors.

This is a climate in which historians can provide much needed context and interpretation. They can challenge myths and short-term thinking. They can help make sense of 바카라사이트 present.

Expressing knowledge as well as a view, especially when that view is political view, can come at a price. I know that from my own of abuse.

However, when public debate is constantly sacrificed for soundbites and click-baits, is threatened and undermined by 'fake news', we need historians to draw parallels to help make sense of 바카라사이트 present.

Historians must not only take a step forward but also take a stand. There is a time for all of us historians to dare and it is now.

Tanja Bueltmann is a professor of history at Northumbria University