Political Violence and Memory

Abstract

How political violence is remembered undergoes fundamental transformations through time. Although collective memory is ultimately shaped into material artefacts and representations such as memorial monuments and commemorative museums, along the way the collective process of remembering and commemorating political violence is fraught with contention and competing interests, as different actors compete to have events inscribed with particular meanings and to be remembered a certain way. The relation between political violence and memory provokes a number of interesting questions: Are top-down or institutionally driven political and cultural memories of political violence fundamentally different from social memories that are passed down through generations? Is what gets remembered ultimately an inevitable reaffirmation of the nation state or do possibilities for alternative interpretations exist? What is the role of the media in the process of remembering or forgetting political violence? What influence can the victims of the violence have in this process? What role do processes of reconciliation , peace building, and post-conflict transitions have in determining or shaping collective memories of political violence? How do cultural and political narratives shape memory of political violence? How does the memory of political violence shape identity? How do individual and collective memories of political violence intersect? These are just some of the questions that this panel could address. Papers addressing any aspect of memory and political violence are welcome, from any disciplinary , geographical or methodological perspective.

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