Collective Memory

By Elizabeth Cychosz

One of the ways to understand group motivations in intractable conflicts is to examine the collective memories driving each side. “Collective memory” refers to the ways that groups think about and find meaning in their history. Think of it as the intersection between identity issues and debates over historical facts. Collective memory has been brought up elsewhere on this website in reference to the psychological dynamics of intractable conflicts. Instead of focusing on psychology, however, this essay will explore collective memory’s role in interpersonal and intercommunity relationships.

Difference between Memory, History and Myth

History as a discipline is supposed to be objective and rooted in historical fact, based on evidence left behind by people in the past. Evidence that says historians have been wrong about something would prompt them to incorporate these new facts into what we say is history. On the other end of the spectrum is myth. These timeless stories are more fiction than fact but often have a strong moral component. In the United States, one example could be the myth of George Washington and the cherry tree and the importance of honesty.[1]

In a non-academic setting, what is considered to be history does not need to be completely or even at all factual. We can draw on “history” in our daily lives without putting it through the same rigor as an academic would. What matters more for us as individuals and as groups is that the past suits our present purposes. This gets into the idea of collective memory, which provides a narrative framework for understanding the past that has implications and lessons for the future. It is rooted in historical truths, but the interpretation it undergoes means that collective memory does not need to be fully accurate. Collective memory is a selective history that makes sense in a narrative, which then tells people in the present about where they came from and what that means for their own actions and futures.[2]

In this way, memory is between history and myth. The adjective “collective” refers to how these memories and histories and lessons exist in an interpersonal space, gaining importance because multiple people share these narratives of the past.[3] Collective memory can be communicated directly from one generation to the next (communicative memory) or be communicated through generations via cultural artifacts like memorials or film (cultural memory).[4]

Action can be Limited by Memory

Historical narratives that make up a group’s collective memories highlight certain events that are particularly important to that group’s identity. These are the stories that children learn from history books written by members of their group. For example, in Northern Ireland, Protestant children learn about the importance of the Battle of the Boyne, the signing of the Ulster Covenant, and IRA attacks in the border regions during the Troubles. Such events cultivate a narrative that says this group would become culturally extinct without the protection of the British government. Catholic children, on the other hand, inherit a historical narrative that highlights the Great Famine, the Easter Rising and partition, and Bloody Sunday. These moments suggest that the British government is an unreasonable oppressor and that they would better off under the Irish government. Although all these events happened in history, the relative importance placed on each of them by different communities creates different collective memories of that history that compel the groups to act in opposition.

Collective memory puts limits on what types of things are acceptable for a group to do. At the same time, however, present needs can shape the types of limits collective memory can place on action. For example, Germany’s collective memory and guilt for World War II and the Holocaust has determined how its military was able to be used in the past couple decades.[5] A history of shameful militarism left the national consciousness wary about the use of force. But in the 1990s, this shame was swapped for an obligation to act in favor of human rights and humanitarian intervention in Kosovo.

These constraints are important to understand when trying to resolve intractable conflicts, as they affect when and how conflicts move between different phases of intractability. The narrative embraced by one party to the conflict of past grievances done to it by the other might be so salient that leaders cannot sit together in the same room without it becoming a scandal.

Going back to the example of Northern Ireland, in order to reach a peace agreement, leaders were willing to hear the collective memories of one another’s parties and listen to how those memories called for certain needs to be recognized. They then found creative ways to incorporate those needs into the Good Friday Agreement. In Northern Ireland, groups’ collective memories of the conflict and stories about oppressive or colluding states have reinforced national identities as British or Irish. One creative solution to this in the Good Friday Agreement was the ability for citizens of Northern Ireland to possess both Irish and British passports or just one. That way individuals could claim their own national identities without having to make Northern Ireland officially Irish or British.[6] But first, groups must reach a point where they are ready to listen to and hear these counter-narratives of the conflict.

Bringing a Memory Framework into Practice

Peacebuilders who hope to incorporate an understanding of collective memory into their work are encouraged to ask questions that might shed light on these underlying processes and motivations. Bringing collective memory narratives out into the open may promote mutual understanding by explaining why certain positions are non-negotiable, since they might be rooted in a historical narrative that promotes or prohibits certain actions. Here are some sample questions, though some may be more or less relevant in different contexts:

• What moments in history are most important for understanding what’s happening in this conflict? Would different identity groups have different answers? Would some of their answers overlap?
• How are groups communicating their collective memories within those groups (e.g. through museums, textbooks, songs)? To the next generation? To outsiders?
• What meanings does a group draw from its collective memory?

A memory framework does not mean that groups need to compromise or give up their own histories. Instead, peacebuilders should encourage opportunities for groups to hear each other’s perspectives and seek to understand how different ways of thinking about history can mean different ways of thinking about the present. This can be done in facilitated group conversations, at museums, through storytelling projects, and the like. Dialogue and the process of reaching mutual understanding should be the goal, and this process should be done in a way that promotes safe spaces, honesty, and respect.