Given the difficulties of collectively commemorating violent conflicts and the pain of remembering violence on a personal level, forgetting is sometimes seen as a healing resort, even strategic option for reconciliation initiatives, particularly after protracted intrastate conflicts. Little has been said, however, about the sustainability of suchlike collective amnesia. I will therefore propose a model of collective memory based on the work of Aleida Assmann and Maurice Halbwachs. Distinguishing short- and long-term memory constellations, I will argue that collective amnesia – the absence of dominant memory traces – is in fact very unlikely and represents a real strategic goal only under distinctive conditions. Allowing for a better identification of the main actors and institutions when it comes to dealing with the past, the proposed framework for analysis will enhance respective academic debates and policies on conflict transformation and transitional justice.
