Memory Politics After Mass Violence - (Spaces of Peace, Security and Development) by Timothy Williams (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This book explores how political actors draw on memories of violent pasts to generate political power and legitimacy in the present. Drawing on fieldwork in post-violence Cambodia, Rwanda and Indonesia, the book demonstrates in what way power is derived from how roles are assigned, exploring who is deemed a perpetrator, victim or hero, as well as uncertainties in this memory.

The author interrogates the ways in which these roles are attributed and ambivalences created in each society's political discourses, transitional justice processes and cultural heritage. The comparative empirical analysis illustrates the importance of memory for political power and legitimacy today.

Review Quotes

"This groundbreaking book examines how collective memory shapes political power after mass violence, revealing no universal memory narrative guarantees authority. Through field research in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Indonesia, it demonstrates how attributed roles--perpetrator, victim, hero--directly constitute political legitimacy. The author's compelling, timely argument extends beyond these case studies, inviting scholars to critically explore how political actors across various post-conflict societies strategically utilize violent pasts to legitimize present power arrangements." Andrea Peto, Central European University

"This is a must read book to understand the complexities of memory politics across diverse post-conflict contexts revealing how the past is shaped by power dynamics and how the past in turn shapes power." David Mwambari, Author of Navigating Cultural Memory: Commemoration and Narrative in Postgenocide Rwanda

About the Author

Timothy Williams is Junior Professor of Insecurity and Social Order at the Institute for Political Science in the Department of Social Science and Public Affairs at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Germany.