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Modern historiography embraces the notion that time is
irreversible, implying that the past should be imagined as
something 'absent' or 'distant.' Victims of historical injustice,
however, in contrast, often claim that the past got 'stuck' in the
present and that it retains a haunting presence. History, Memory,
and State-Sponsored Violence is centered around the provocative
thesis that the way one deals with historical injustice and the
ethics of history is strongly dependent on the way one conceives of
historical time; that the concept of time traditionally used by
historians is structurally more compatible with the perpetrators'
than the victims' point of view. Demonstrating that the claim of
victims about the continuing presence of the past should be taken
seriously, instead of being treated as merely metaphorical, Berber
Bevernage argues that a genuine understanding of the 'irrevocable'
past demands a radical break with modern historical discourse and
the concept of time. By embedding a profound philosophical
reflection on the themes of historical time and historical
discourse in a concrete series of case studies, this project
transcends the traditional divide between 'empirical'
historiography on the one hand and the so called 'theoretical'
approaches to history on the other. It also breaks with the
conventional 'analytical' philosophy of history that has been
dominant during the last decades, raising a series of
long-neglected 'big questions' about the historical condition -
questions about historical time, the unity of history, and the
ontological status of present and past -programmatically pleading
for a new historical ethics.
Modern historiography embraces the notion that time is
irreversible, implying that the past should be imagined as
something 'absent' or 'distant.' Victims of historical injustice,
however, in contrast, often claim that the past got 'stuck' in the
present and that it retains a haunting presence. History, Memory,
and State-Sponsored Violence is centered around the provocative
thesis that the way one deals with historical injustice and the
ethics of history is strongly dependent on the way one conceives of
historical time; that the concept of time traditionally used by
historians is structurally more compatible with the perpetrators'
than the victims' point of view. Demonstrating that the claim of
victims about the continuing presence of the past should be taken
seriously, instead of being treated as merely metaphorical, Berber
Bevernage argues that a genuine understanding of the 'irrevocable'
past demands a radical break with modern historical discourse and
the concept of time. By embedding a profound philosophical
reflection on the themes of historical time and historical
discourse in a concrete series of case studies, this project
transcends the traditional divide between 'empirical'
historiography on the one hand and the so called 'theoretical'
approaches to history on the other. It also breaks with the
conventional 'analytical' philosophy of history that has been
dominant during the last decades, raising a series of
long-neglected 'big questions' about the historical condition -
questions about historical time, the unity of history, and the
ontological status of present and past -programmatically pleading
for a new historical ethics.
The past decades public interest in history is booming. This
creates new opportunities but also challenges for professional
historians. This book asks how historians deal with changing public
demands for history and how these affect their professional
practices, values and identities. The volume offers a great variety
of detailed studies of cases where historians have applied their
expertise outside the academic sphere. With contributions focusing
on Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Europe the book has
a broad geographical scope. Subdivided in five sections, the book
starts with a critical look back on some historians who broke with
mainstream academic positions by combining their professional
activities with an explicit political partisanship or social
engagement. The second section focusses on the challenges
historians are confronted with when entering the court room or more
generally exposing their expertise to legal frameworks. The third
section focuses on the effects of policy driven demands as well as
direct political interventions and regulations on the historical
profession. A fourth section looks at the challenges and
opportunities related to the rise of new digital media. Finally
several authors offer their view on normative standards that may
help to better respond to new demands and to define role models for
publicly engaged historians. This book aims at historians and other
academics interested in public uses of history.
This handbook provides the first systematic integrated analysis of
the role that states or state actors play in the construction of
history and public memory after 1945. The book focuses on many
different forms of state-sponsored history, including memory laws,
monuments and memorials, state-archives, science policies, history
in schools, truth commissions, historical expert commissions, the
use of history in courts and tribunals etc. The handbook
contributes to the study of history and public memory by combining
elements of state-focused research in separate fields of study. By
looking at the state's memorialising capacities the book introduces
an analytical perspective that is not often found in classical
studies of the state. The handbook has a broad geographical focus
and analyses cases from different regions around the world. The
volume mainly tackles democratic contexts, although dictatorial
regimes are not excluded.
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