Description
Book SynopsisAs new social actors have emerged in Latin America, the process of dealing with the legacy of still-unresolved human rights abuses has been significantly reinvigorated. This powerful text provides the first systematic analysis of the second wave of memory and justice mobilization throughout the region. A multidisciplinary group of authors, many from the global south, consider the changed political, economic, and social conditions that have led to new forms of social action. They trace the growth of human rights groups as fundamental political organizations in the post-dictatorship era, the participation of public authorities in the investigation and persecution of human rights abusers, and the implementation of national and international human rights legislation. Pairing clear explanations of concepts and debates with cases studies, the book offers a unique opportunity for students to understand and interpret the history and politics of a range of Latin American countries.
Trade ReviewAn invaluable contribution to our understanding of the ways memory intersects with the political search for justice. By attending not only to institutional practices but also to vernacular rhetorics, the case studies in this volume expand our understanding of the kind of memory work necessary to seek a just and sustainable resolution to conflict. The contributors to this volume provide detailed and compelling studies of memory practices in various countries within Latin America. Taken together, the collected essays open up a dialogue that will be useful for students of the region but also for any who are interested in the way public memory is involved in efforts toward achieving social justice. -- Kendall R. Phillips, Syracuse University
This invaluable text offers a nuanced and multifaceted view of the second wave of memory politics in Latin America. Spanning the varied yet aligned contexts from Argentina to Chile and Guatemala to Uruguay, among others, the book is an enormously useful introduction to the contradictory, complex, and intersecting mobilizations of memory, human rights, reconciliation, and social justice that have defined Latin America’s relationship to its history of violence and state terror. -- Marita Sturken, New York University
Table of ContentsIntroduction Roberta Villalón Part I: Framing Collective Memory: Counter-Hegemonic and Master Narratives Introduction to Part I Roberta Villalón Chapter 1: Genesis, Uses, and Significations of the Nunca Más Report in Argentina Emilio Crenzel Chapter 2: “We’re All Victims”: Changes in the Narrative of “National Reconciliation” in Argentina Valentina Salvi, translated by Luis Alberto Hernández Chapter 3: Irreconcilable Differences: Political Culture and Gender Violence during the Chilean Transition to Democracy Hillary Hiner and María José Azócar Part II: Defining Historical Periods, Blame, and Reparation Introduction to Part II Roberta Villalón Chapter 4: The Memory of the National and the National as Memory Juan Poblete Chapter 5: Between Two Pasts: Dictatorships and the Politics of Memory in Bolivia Francisco Adolfo García Jerez and Juliane Müller, translated by Margot Olavarria Chapter 6: Colombia’s Gallery of Memory: Reexamining Democracy through Human Rights Lenses Erika Márquez Part III: Cultures of Trauma, Healing, and Justice Introduction to Part III Roberta Villalón Chapter 7: Trauma and the Politics of Memory in the Uruguayan Dictatorship Lorenzo D’Orsi Chapter 8: Living with Ghosts: Death, Exhumation, and Reburial among the Maya in Guatemala Virginia Garrard Chapter 9: Argentina’s Trials: New Ways of Writing Memory Susana Kaiser Part IV: Arts, Media, Museums, and Memory Introduction to Part IV Roberta Villalón Chapter 10: The Murals of La Victoria: Imaginaries of Chilean Popular Resistance Alexis Cortés, translated by Margot Olavarria Chapter 11: Choreography of a Massacre: Memory and Performance in the Ayacucho Carnaval Renzo Aroni Sulca, translated by Margot Olavarria Chapter 12: Reckoning with Dictatorship in Brazil: The Double-Edged Role of Artistic-Cultural Production Nina Schneider and Rebecca J. Atencio Chapter 13: Historical Memory at El Salvador’s Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen Diana Carolina Sierra Becerra Conclusion: Complexities, Controversies and the Value of Collective Memory and Social Justice Roberta Villalón Bibliography About the Contributors
