State Repression and the Struggles for Memory
by Elizabeth Jelin
ISBN-10: 1 899365 65 6
Paperback, 5th January 2004
Translated by Judy Rein and Marcial Godoy-Anatavia
Price: £11.99
Opening the newspapers in South America at the beginning of the twenty-first century can feel like being caught in a time warp: so many contemporary news stories point to the persistence of a past which is definitely not 'over'.
In State Repression and the Struggles for Memory, Elizabeth Jelin exposes the enduring consequences of repression and the conflicted and contingent nature of memory. Drawing on a wide range of examples, from Bosnia to Rwanda to Argentina's Dirty War, she explores how memory and politics intertwine and the forms in which memory - and forgetting - shape individual and collective identities.
The book is rooted in the past of South America, but its reach is much wider. The analyses and reflections presented here draw on theories of historical and social memory, trauma and testimony, 'truth' and how memory is created through confrontation and struggle.
Cutting across disciplines - history, anthropology, sociology, psychology - State Repression and the Struggles for Memory is the best existing introduction to the political uses of memory.
'Jelin distils a wealth of knowledge in an accessible form and is vital reading for all those concerned with memory. By one of the region's foremost commentators on the "politics of memory", this book breaks new ground in the inter-disciplinary study of social and cultural reconstruction in the wake of major violations fo human rights by the State. It is destined to become a standard text for courses on human rights, politics, sociology and history.'
Rachel Sieder, Senior Lecturer in Politics at the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London
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