Edited by Celeste Muñoz Martínez and Oriol López Badell. Published by Edicions Bellaterra.
In a context marked by growing global inequalities, colonial legacies have become a central site of political and social dispute. Phenomena such as structural racism, socioeconomic gaps, land dispossession, border regimes, and the climate crisis are increasingly understood as direct consequences of the systems of domination that fuelled—and continue to sustain—the expansion of contemporary capitalism.
Demands for reparation today go far beyond the removal of monuments or the restitution of museum collections. They encompass public recognition, economic compensation, nationality and citizenship rights, debt cancellation, and the transformation of educational and cultural narratives. The momentum of movements such as Black Lives Matter has renewed the urgency of these claims, explicitly linking police violence and racial injustice to the enduring symbols and structures of imperialism.
What Do We Do with the Colonial Past? Justice, Reparation and Memory offers a critical analysis of how inequality, ongoing dispossession, and discrimination are deeply intertwined with imperial histories. By examining these connections across different national and thematic contexts, the book reveals not only a past that has yet to be fully confronted, but also the ways in which colonial logics continue to shape contemporary forms of injustice.
Recognising these legacies is a necessary step toward questioning present-day inequalities and imagining new horizons of justice, repair, and collective responsibility.
Publication details
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Publication date: December 2025
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Pages: 246
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ISBN: 979-13-87639-43-3
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Publisher: Edicions Bellaterra
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In collaboration with: European Observatory on Memories (EUROM), co-funded by the programme Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV)
Related activity
Repairing the Past 2025: What Do We Do with the Colonial Past?
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- Reference of the Project: 101194553
- Type of activity: Education
- Title: Publication on colonial memories and redress policies