Back to the Future? – Countering the Misuse of Memory to Preserve Peace and Security

Collective memory and memorialisation are pressing topics in the field of dealing with the past, also because of the implications for peace and security when memory spaces are misused. Creat-ing a safe space for memories to compete and be negotiated is crucial for finding a common un-derstanding of the past, including the human rights violations that occurred and the harm they caused. Besides this ‘negotiated truth’, collective memory based on the principles of human rights contributes to preventing the recurrence of violence and the consolidation of democratic struc-tures. In a world with an infinite amount of conflicting information being spread in the virtual sphere, memory is more crucial than ever, providing an opportunity to reflect on the present and identify contemporary problems related to exclusion, discrimination, and abuses of power. However, memorialisation initiatives may at the same time be misused by social and political ac-tors to promote narratives that oppose democracy and human rights. In contemporary Europe, in which right-wing nationalist and populist groups are winning elections in several countries, and history is again being contested, there is a concrete and increasing danger of politically motivated revisionism and the misuse of sites of memorialisation. The proposed paper aims to analyse three case studies and the role of memorialisation in those societies. It argues for the importance of remembering past human rights violations, and for the act of memorialising them, disagreeing with those scholars who support collective forgetting as a way to leave a troubled past behind. We believe in the four pillars of dealing with the past and in this paper discuss the role that memorialisation could and should play in upholding these pillars, as well as the risks for peace and security in Europe of the misuse of memory sites. (Co-authors of the paper: Claudia Josi, Flavia Keller and Briony Jones)