Vista Equipo: Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia

Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia

Between 2007 and 2013, we were part of the Historical Memory Group (GMH), a research group comprised of researchers and experts working under the auspices of the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation of Colombia. The GMH was tasked under Law 975 with producing a report on the origins...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores Principales:	Riaño P., Uribe Alarcon, Maria Victoria
Formato:	Artículo (Article)
Lenguaje:	Español (Spanish)
Publicado:	University of San Diego 2017
Materias:	Colombia Historical memory Human rights discourse Plural narratives Victims' discourses
Acceso en línea:	https://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/23111

id	ir-10336-23111
recordtype	dspace
spelling	ir-10336-231112022-05-02T12:37:17Z Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia Construyendo memoria en medio del conflicto: el Grupo de Memoria Histórica de Colombia Riaño P. Uribe Alarcon, Maria Victoria Colombia Historical memory Human rights discourse Plural narratives Victims' discourses Between 2007 and 2013, we were part of the Historical Memory Group (GMH), a research group comprised of researchers and experts working under the auspices of the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation of Colombia. The GMH was tasked under Law 975 with producing a report on the origins and causes of the armed conflict in Colombia. Despite the dominant right-wing political context and the ongoing armed conflict, the GMH enjoyed intellectual and operative autonomy in its research and articulated his work around a discourse that positioned the victims as a reason for the exercise of historical memory and a factor of social legitimation. This way of producing knowledge opened new avenues for the construction of more inclusive historical accounts. This article interrogates the dynamics and reasons that served as the basis for the GMH's special sensitivity towards victims; the notion of victim implicit in the research work, with its inclusions and exclusions; and the dilemmas that arose in the group's work. We argue that the GMH can be characterized as an agent of knowledge production about a violent past that was able to articulate comprehensive and plural narratives about violence in Colombia. However, this work was limited by state and institutional dynamics that sought to domesticate and instrumentalize the voices of those who had been systematically silenced. A review of the GMH's work suggests three critical dilemmas that constrain truth-telling mechanisms: the dilemma between opening spaces for truth telling and the safety of those providing testimony; the dilemma around whose victims' voices gain authority in the documentation process; and the risks of institutionalizing a discourse around victims that bestows narrative capital to state and societal institutions. © 2017 University of San Diego. All rights reserved. 2017 2020-05-25T23:59:48Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 1212117 https://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/23111 spa info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess application/pdf University of San Diego instname:Universidad del Rosario
institution	EdocUR - Universidad del Rosario
collection	DSpace
language	Español (Spanish)
topic	Colombia Historical memory Human rights discourse Plural narratives Victims' discourses
spellingShingle	Colombia Historical memory Human rights discourse Plural narratives Victims' discourses Riaño P. Uribe Alarcon, Maria Victoria Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia
description	Between 2007 and 2013, we were part of the Historical Memory Group (GMH), a research group comprised of researchers and experts working under the auspices of the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation of Colombia. The GMH was tasked under Law 975 with producing a report on the origins and causes of the armed conflict in Colombia. Despite the dominant right-wing political context and the ongoing armed conflict, the GMH enjoyed intellectual and operative autonomy in its research and articulated his work around a discourse that positioned the victims as a reason for the exercise of historical memory and a factor of social legitimation. This way of producing knowledge opened new avenues for the construction of more inclusive historical accounts. This article interrogates the dynamics and reasons that served as the basis for the GMH's special sensitivity towards victims; the notion of victim implicit in the research work, with its inclusions and exclusions; and the dilemmas that arose in the group's work. We argue that the GMH can be characterized as an agent of knowledge production about a violent past that was able to articulate comprehensive and plural narratives about violence in Colombia. However, this work was limited by state and institutional dynamics that sought to domesticate and instrumentalize the voices of those who had been systematically silenced. A review of the GMH's work suggests three critical dilemmas that constrain truth-telling mechanisms: the dilemma between opening spaces for truth telling and the safety of those providing testimony; the dilemma around whose victims' voices gain authority in the documentation process; and the risks of institutionalizing a discourse around victims that bestows narrative capital to state and societal institutions. © 2017 University of San Diego. All rights reserved.
format	Artículo (Article)
author	Riaño P. Uribe Alarcon, Maria Victoria
author_facet	Riaño P. Uribe Alarcon, Maria Victoria
author_sort	Riaño P.
title	Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia
title_short	Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia
title_full	Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia
title_fullStr	Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia
title_full_unstemmed	Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia
title_sort	building memory in the midst of conflict: the historical memory group of colombia
publisher	University of San Diego
publishDate	2017
url	https://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/23111
_version_	1740172655944794112
score	12,111491

Building memory in the midst of conflict: the Historical Memory Group of Colombia

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