Abstract

This article addresses the question of how the history of political violence targeting individuals on the basis of their race, religion, or ethnicity is memorialized in democracies. To what extent do states’ memorialization practices reflect their democratic values and institutions? The study addresses these questions by bridging the theoretical literatures of memory studies and political regimes. It compares two cases that differ in the circumstances under which they transitioned to democracy, but that have in common the history of political violence of exclusion. The first case includes the Holocaust memorials and monuments in Germany following the reunification, and the second case, the memorialization of the inter-ethnic violence in the 1990s in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By focusing on the memorials, rather than on the characteristics of a political regime, the article argues that memorials that are inclusive of different perspectives and experiences and those that encourage critical reflection and community involvement are more aligned with democratic values. The congruence between the characteristics of the political regime and those of the memorial should not be assumed even in the cases of consolidated democracies.

摘要

本文讨论的问题是，如何在民主国家中纪念针对基于种族，宗教或族裔的个人的政治暴力历史。国家的纪念活动在何种程度上反映了其民主价值观和制度？该研究通过衔接记忆研究和政治制度的理论文献来解决这些问题。它比较了两种情况，它们在向民主过渡的情况不同，但具有排斥性政治暴力的历史。第一个案件包括统一后在德国举行的大屠杀纪念馆和纪念碑，第二个案件涉及1990年代波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那的族裔间暴力事件的纪念活动。通过专注于纪念馆，该文章认为，纪念馆不包含政治政权的特征，而是包含不同观点和经验的纪念馆，以及鼓励批判性反思和社区参与的纪念馆，与民主价值观更加契合。即使在巩固民主国家的情况下，也不应假定政治政权的特征与纪念馆的特征是一致的。