The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies

Living Edition
| Editors: Oliver Richmond (Editor-in-Chief), Gëzim Visoka (Editor-in-Chief)

Conflict, Memory, and Memory Activism: Dealing with Difficult Pasts

Living reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_38-1
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Synonyms

Alternative commemorations; Calendars; Contested pasts; Counter memory; Memory; Memory activism

Description

This entry discusses the role of memory studies in the analysis of societies in and after conflict and in the study of processes of peacebuilding and peace formation (Richmond 2013) from below. It addresses the following questions: What are the ways in which the social organization of memory shape processes of post-conflict remembrance? What are the modes in which communities and groups preserve and remember the past, commemorate it, deny, or obliterate it? What is the role of memory activists and alternative commemorative events in processes of reconciliation? By discussing the dynamics of memory work and memory activism, and the tensions between state-sponsored and alternative counter-memories, this entry underlines the importance of the study of spaces of memory as an arena of political struggles. Memory regimes and mnemonic actors, state calendars, and commemorative...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Faculty of Media and Communications (FMK), Singidunum UniversityBelgradeSerbia
  2. 2.School for International Training (SIT)BelgradeSerbia

Section editors and affiliations

  • Sandra Pogodda

There are no affiliations available