Protest as Democratic Practice: Peace Movements in Southern Europe, 1975-1990
The University of Sheffield launches an exhibition which sheds new light on the peace protests that swept across Europe in response to the nuclear arms race of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The peace protests were a watershed moment in recent European political history, which “activated civil society, renegotiated the parameters of political participation and redefined people’s understanding of national and international security” says lead researcher Dr Erini Karamouzi.
Although there has been a lot of investigation into western European peace protests, the developments in southern European countries have been under represented. Using popular music, cinema, literature, leaflets and magazines from peace movements, photos of demonstrations, material from anti-war conferences and oral testimonies, the exhibition focusses on three countries that were involved in the mobilisation in different ways: Greece, Italy and Spain, and traces their reactions to the threat of nuclear war.
Curated by Dr Eirini Karamouzi from the University’s Department of History and developed in collaboration with Dr Giulia Quaggio (a Max Batley Peace Studies Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Sheffield), the exhibition aims to be a reminder of the existential threat that nuclear weapons still pose to humanity, as well as highlighting the value of people power, reminding us that we do have the collective potential to influence politics.
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The exhibition will be launched at the Hellenic Parliament Foundation by the President of the Greek Parliament, Nikolaos Voutsis, and the catalogue will be available in both Greek and English. On top of the exhibition, Dr Karamouzi is also launching a series of educational programmes aimed at 9th to 12th grade students which will explore the history of the southern European peace movements 1975-1990.
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