Peace and the Politics of Memory

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This book systematically explores how the politics of memory impacts peace in societies transitioning from a violent past. The book argues that the quality of peace is affected by the entanglement of memories. It develops an original theoretical framework that connects sites, agency, narratives, and events in memory politics. Memorials, monuments, and museums are sites that demonstrate the materiality of memory, agents drive memory politics, narratives of memory reflect the power of language, and commemorative events illustrate the importance of performativity. This framework is used to analyse mnemonic formations that function as 'diagnostic sites' in the study of peace. The empirical investigations demonstrate the strength with which memories of past violence affect the quality of peace in the present. The power of the past is evident from the comparative analysis of the mnemonic formations of nationalisms dividing the island of Cyprus, the lingering legacies of colonialism in South Africa, contestations regarding the use of human remains in Cambodia, the unsettled memory of the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian memoryscape, and on-going controversies around the role of internationals in the Rwandan genocide. The analysis shows that three elements of memory politics - inclusivity, pluralism, and dignity - play a key role in the construction of a just peace. The book generates original and important findings on how memory politics affects the quality of peace and contributes new and timely knowledge about societies that grapple with the painful legacies of the past.