Krystel GualdĆ©, Nantes History Museum All images: Memorial to the abolition of slavery, Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) Ā© PHILIPPE PIRON /LVAN In Nantes, there is a place where silence speaks, where footsteps slow, caught by the weight of a long-buried history. A vibrant place, on the riverbank, where memory takes form: the Memorial to the Abolition of …
Andrew Davies, University of Liverpool, and Nick White, Liverpool John Moores University1 Liverpoolās waterfront1 is currently undergoing major change as part of the Waterfront Transformation Project, a multi-million pound process coordinated by National Museums Liverpool with multiple funding bodies and significant community involvement2. This project seeks to reimagine the cityās historic docks and port in …
Hisayo Katsui, University of Helsinki Cover picture: Teaching and articulation lesson of sound at the School for the Deaf in Turku (Archive of the Finnish Deaf History Society) Background of the truth and reconciliation process In June 2025, the Finnish government initiated a truth and reconciliation process with the deaf and sign language community and …
Monika BaĆ”r, European University Institute Cover Picture: The tomb of Louis Braille at the PanthĆ©on in Paris. Lucas Werkmeister, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The field of memory studies has flourished in recent years. However, the memory culture of people with disabilities remains a blank; it still belongs to what might be termed āsubaltern …
This edition highlights issues like the Samudaripen/Porrajmos memorialisation, transnational heritage projects, and Argentina’s ESMA Memory Site Museum. Through diverse articles and reviews, we explore the role of archives, cultural heritage, and multidisciplinary approaches to memory. We remain committed to fostering critical reflection and collaborative action for a more just society.
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In the 1970s, the collapse of the Estado Novo (New State) and the Francoist state took place, two of the longest-lasting dictatorships in the contemporary history of Western Europe. This year marks half a century since the military coup carried out by officers of the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) that overthrew Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano, leading to the Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974. Next year will mark 50 years since the death of the dictator Francisco Franco on 20 November 1975, who became head of state during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the beginning of the political shift towards the transition to democracy in Spain.Ā
Archives have prominent roles in memory work. They do not preserve or carry memories per se but provide documentary and material sources for collective memory creation and, increasingly, space for memorialization. A 2020 UN report on memory practices in the aftermath of grave human rights abuses explicitly relates the effectiveness of memorializationāthe āfifth pillar of transitional justiceāāto the existence of and access to relevant archives.
By David GonzĆ”lez, European Observatory on Memories (EUROM) āThe Teacher Who Promised the Seaā is a Spanish-produced film directed by Patricia Font, starring Enric Auquer and Laia Costa in lead roles. This fictional feature is inspired by the true story of Antoni Benaiges, a Republican teacher from the Freinet pedagogical school, who was killed by …
Book: Shaping Revolutionary Memory. The Production of Monuments in Socialist Yugoslavia. Sanja HorvatinÄiÄ and Beti Žerovc, 2023 (IZA Editions) Review by Daniel Palacios GonzĆ”lez, National University of Distance Education (UNED) Can a vast memory culture developed by thousands of people and interacting with millions over decades be fetishised and reduced to one word that strips …