Institutional Amnesia: Organizational Memory and Peacebuilding in Croatia

• In Event: 049 - Section on Peace, War and Social Conflict Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. Peacebuilding

Abstract

This paper explores the major gaps in institutional memory within the international peacebuilding project in Croatia. Drawing the on the organizational literature on institutional memory, I define three types of memory: organizational, human, and electronic, and show how these forms of memory eroded as international projects in Croatia ended. These gaps in memory have major methodological implications for scholars examining peace and development projects over time, as well as implications for donor (mis)understandings of the nature of peace and the durability of peace projects. I find that local NGOs are more reliable vectors of memory in all forms than are international organizations, and that the lack of institutional memory within international organizations reflects a short-term and event-centered understanding of peace projects.

Author

• Laura J. Heideman, Northern Illinois University