Holodomor Between Recognition and Denial : An Intellectual History of Memory Politics

This thesis explores how the Holodomor, the famine that struck Ukraine in 1932–1933, has been interpreted and used in parliamentary contexts in the Swedish Riksdag, the European Parliament, and the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada. Drawing on discourse analysis, contextual methodology, and the theoretical frameworks of Maurice Halbwachs, Jan Assmann, and Charles S. Maier, the study examines how collective memories are politicized, institutionalized, and mobilized to serve contemporary identity and foreign policy goals. The findings show that the term Holodomor is not a neutral description, but a politically and ideologically charged concept. In Ukraine, it has been institutionalized as genocide and serves as a foundation for a national identity distinct from the Soviet and Russian past. The European Parliament shifted from framing the famine as a tragedy in 2008 to recognizing it as genocide in 2022—an interpretive change closely tied to Russia’s full-scale invasionof Ukraine. In contrast, the Swedish Riksdag has consistently rejected motions to recognize Holodomor as genocide, citing legal caution—a stance that may also reflect Sweden’s own colonial legacy and restrained memory politics. This thesis argues that the struggle over the meaning of Holodomor is not merely about history, but about contemporary moral, political, and geopolitical struggles. By treating Holodomor as an analytical concept rather than a fixed historical fact, the study contributes to our understanding of how the past is mobilized in the service of present-day political agendas.