The Statue of Winston Churchill on Parliament Square : Discussions and Debates

Details

Supervisors

Arblaster, Paul

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en communication multilingue, à finalité spécialisée: langues des affaires

Abstract

Winston Churchill was Britain’s Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945, making his governance a difficult but heroic period. However, this leadership is not the one everyone remembers when his name is mentioned. On 7 June 2020, Black Lives Matter protesters vandalised the statue of Winston Churchill on Parliament Square in London. They crossed out his name and wrote “was a racist” on the plinth of his statue. Certain actions had already been blamed on him, but the debate gained momentum in June 2020. Newspapers covered the subject and politicians, artists, historians and the British population voiced their opinions. Many aspects, such as memory, culture, beliefs and origin, have influenced people’s understanding of the statue. Although many people expressed the wish to remove the statue, the Conservative government of the time ensured that it remained in place. To this day, no common ground has been found and the debate is still ongoing, despite being calmer.