Threads of Memory in Local Government Election Campaigns. Poland 2018

The use of threads of memory during election campaigns has a great political potential. Recalling the history of the community may contribute to the success of campaign activities, thanks to which the issues of remembrance of the past appear in the strategies of many election committees. And although the problem of the use of threads of memory before elections could be discussed through the prism of the various levels of elections, this article proposes a narrower perspective. The purpose of this text is to present the issue of recalling memory – using the narratives of memory and commemoration – in local government elections. What is important, the main discussed problem is based on the case of local government elections in Poland in 2018, and is presented through the analysis of three examples of the use of threads of memory during election campaigns (the content analysis of media reports). These examples came from Katowice, Warsaw and Bialystok, and its discussion contributed to the formulation of final conclusions.