Комеморативні практики в практичній теорії «нового конструктивізму» міжнародних відносин

Bohdan Khmelnnytskyi

doi:10.31861/mhpi2026.53.111-118

Authors

Bohdan Khmelnnytskyi Educational and Scientific Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3626-5591

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31861/mhpi2026.53.111-118

Keywords:

ontological security, securitisation of memory, field theory, habitus, mnemonic turn, relationalism, global politics

Abstract

This paper examines the role of commemoration in international relations theory through the lens of “new constructivism”. The study of national memory takes on particular significance due to the «mnemonic turn», which defines the intersection of collective memory and global politics. In the context of contemporary mnemonic conflicts, the process of securitizing memory acts as a key mechanism for safeguarding ontological security, based on three fundamental fears: death (loss of territory), meaninglessness (erosion of authentic identity) and condemnation (guilt). We analyze commemorative practices in two interrelated guises: as unconscious everyday routines (state rituals, veneration of relics) and as the conscious “mnemonic entrepreneurship” of elites who construct symbolic myths for political struggle.

Particular attention is paid to the material “infrastructure of memory” (monuments, memorials), which act as active mediators (actants) in international interaction, bridging the dichotomy between ideas and materialism. The aim of the article was to provide a theoretical justification of memory as a dynamic process in the formation of the international system and the ontological security of states.

Author Biography

Bohdan Khmelnnytskyi, Educational and Scientific Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

PhD Student

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