Conflicting Memories of Insurrection

• In Event: 30469 - Right-Wing Populism in the US and Beyond

Abstract

This article offers a novel interpretation of the relationship between democratic politics, events, and memory. Taking the events of January 6th, 2021 as an exemplary case, this article maps the process by which political actors struggle over the meaning of politics via memory. It begins at the empirical level, carefully mapping five distinct strands of memories surrounding the attack on the Capitol, including those of government officials, police officers, and filmmakers. By examining visual and textual data from government reports, autobiographies, documentary films, speeches, and social media posts, this article identifies a serious theoretical problem: we are impotent - we cannot speak of the meaning of democracy, and we do not know how to defend it. We cannot identify the basic relationship between the attack and our most sacred institution, nor who possesses the authority to remember, nor the most elementary facts about the event itself. This finding repositions contemporary debates over the ‘crisis of American democracy’ as issues of memory and storytelling. It further demonstrates the urgent need to narrate correctly – to find some way to hold on to the fleeting memory of darkest day in American history. The article concludes with three propositions regarding the role of the janitor, the incongruence of mass media and conversations about democracy, and Trump’s developing political relationship with freed January 6th ‘patriots’.

Author

• Adam Koehler Brown, New School For Social Research