Memory between Law and Politics
Date
2023-11-20
Authors
Sadowski, Mirosław Michał
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Abstract
How can law influence collective memory? What mechanisms does law employ to influence social perceptions of the past? How successful is law in its attempts to rewrite narratives about the past? I propose to take a step back from established transitional justice narratives, returning to the core sociological, philosophical, and legal theoretical issues that underpin the field of memory studies in order to present a new approach to the relationship between law and collective memory based on a conception of ‘legal institutions of memory’. I will explore different examples taken from Japan, Iraq, Brazil, Portugal, Rwanda and Poland that move from the work of international tribunals and truth commissions to more explicit memory legislation.
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Keywords
Memory studies, law, politics, legal institutions of memory