The technologies of memory in post-dictatorial societies

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Documenting what happened and to whom in episodes of mas political violence is key for addressing these atrocities. Documentation substantiates human rights violations, inscribing the narratives of what those affected had to endured, setting the groundwork for punishing perpetrators, repairing victims, and constructing memory processes that provide a solid base for non-repetition and a culture of peace.

The right to justice as well as the right to truth are contingent upon information availability. Furthermore, recordkeeping has proven to be a key tool for confronting the perpetrators’ denials of their responsibility and involvement in that violent past. Recordkeeping ensure future generations the right to access to the information on these episodes of their society’s history. Documenting atrocities is therefore essential for historical reckoning and societal information and reflection.

Despite the social, political, legal, and cultural relevance of adequate registration of massive political violence, this issue has rarely been the focus of academic research.

The aim of this panel is to share different experiences of registration of recent atrocities, including cases from Rwanda, Peru, Chile and Argentina. We are particularly, interested in discussing the conditions of possibility of human rights abuses registration practices, how legitimacy is gained, how brutal experiences are registered in a way that lend such inscriptions to future use in different arenas. Also how are questions of inclusiveness, categorisation and material delimitations dealt with by established and emerging archives and documentation centres, and how are these centres and their documentation being used by diverse actors at different moments.

Sub Track

• Human Rights and Memory

Session Organizer

• Jaime Hernandez-Garcia, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Chair

• Hugo A Rojas Corral, Alberto Hurtado University

Discussant

• Elízabeth Lira, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

Individual Presentations

• Thinking ‘documentality’ in the archives of past violence - Vikki H Bell, Goldsmiths, University of London

• Political Technologies of Memory: transpositions and innovations in human rights violations documentation in Chile - Oriana M Bernasconi, Universidad Alberto Hurtado

• Jugando con el pasado: juegos de video y construcción de memoria en la postdictadura chilena - Juan R Hernández García, Universidad de Puerto Rico/Río Piedras