From Resistance to Compliance: How Institutionalization Shapes Radical Historical Narratives and Veils Imperial Legacies

• In Event: Insurgent Ruptures and Infrastructures of Memory: Community Museums, Digital Resistance, and Post-Imperial Futures

Abstract

This paper compares "Willful Neglect: The Smithsonian Institution and U.S. Latinos," a 1994 report, to the National Museum of the American Latino's first exhibit titled "¡PRESENTE! A Latino History of the U.S." The purpose of this comparative exercise is to demonstrate how institutionalization—understood as the process by which grassroots narratives move from the periphery to a more central position—compels stakeholders to dilute their radical narratives. This dilution is often driven by the need to cater to government interests and conform to the stereotypical ideas propagated by the American Empire. To counter this process, the paper introduces a series of Digital Initiatives that attempt to subvert institutionalization. They often rely on the digital world and social media to propagate their message and, in doing so, transform the traditional understanding of scholarship, museums, and archives.

Author

• Luisa Fernanda Arrieta Fernandez, Spelman College