Memory and Democracy 

28 July - 1 August 2026

 Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina 

ON-SITE CONFERENCE

Welcome to the official website of the 2026 MSA Annual Conference. The conference will be held from 28 July till 1 August 2026 at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Conference will gather scholars from multiple countries and fields working on memory as a political social and cultural phenomenon. It will take place in a city and a region with a long and vibrant tradition of debates around those topics. We invite scholars, activists, artists and experts from all over the world to be part of this event. 

2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the coup d'état establishing a military dictatorship in Argentina whose social and political consequences – as in many other countries in Latin America – are still felt today. Since the transition to democracy in 1983 commemorations of the coup have worked in conjunction with a widespread condemnation of the military government, as well as of its expansion of state violence with the help of international allies. In 2006, the Día Nacional de la Memoria por la Verdad y la Justicia (National Day of Memory for Truth and Justice) was officially established.

Today, democratic systems around the world are facing unprecedented challenges. On a global scale, we are witnessing alarming shifts that threaten the very foundations of democratic governance. Against this background, this conference seeks to examine the role of memory in democratic resilience. Under which conditions does collective remembrance reinforce democratic structures? What role has memory played in transitions from authoritarian or dictatorial regimes to democratic ones? And what role has memory played in transitions from democracy to authoritarianism? When does memory promote pluralism, effective communication, and mutual understanding within societies and when does it fail to do so? What role do institutional, political, and cultural actors play in shaping collective memory as a tool for governance? In what ways is collective memory open to manipulation for anti-democratic purposes? How has social media impacted on these processes? What role do popular culture, and the arts play in producing or counteracting oversimplified narratives?

The 10th MSA Conference will provide a forum for scholars to explore the role of memory in relation to foundational democratic values (pluralism, inclusivity, participation, open debate, consensus). While we have identified several central thematic streams below, the conference is open to all fields of interest of MSA members. We encourage interested scholars to treat these themes as guidelines for core areas of work within the broader conference theme of “Memory and Democracy.” The thematic strands may thus be interpreted widely and are intended to have a wide historical, geographical, social, and cultural range.

 Thematic Streams:

• Resilience and Resistance: How has memory work contributed to the overcoming of difficult pasts and in resisting undemocratic and non-pluralistic movements? In what ways does memory make societies more resilient to oversimplified or exclusionary narratives? 
• Repression, Justice, Human Rights, and Activism: How does memory activism contribute to struggles for justice, human rights, and democratic values, and offer alternative pathways for the future?
• Memory Politics and Policies: How does political activism influence the creation and development of memory policies? What tensions, debates, and conflicts arise between official narratives and those promoted by non-state actors? Who are the actors that drive diverse memory policies? What public debates, challenges, and controversies emerge around these policies? What is the impact of memory policies on the consolidation of democratic values, inclusion, pluralism, and equality?
• Populism, Backlash, Negationism: How have biased interpretations and misinformation shaped memory politics, past and present? What setbacks are we currently witnessing despite continuous efforts to sustain the remembrance of human rights violations and foster a cosmopolitan memory?
• Art, Literature, Film, Media, and Other Representations: How have transformations in collective memory been processed and/or initiated in the arts and media? In what ways do the arts provide a forum for debate?
• Generations and Education: How does the intergenerational transmission of memory take place? How are intergenerational differences best negotiated? How does this sharing process build social identity and collective memory? What role do institutional and non-institutional actors play in shaping public memory?
• Archives, Heritage Institutions, Museums: How do museums and memorial sites contribute to the preservation, mediation, and politicization of collective memory? How can museums and other heritage institutions best fulfil their role in fostering a pluralist memory culture and providing a forum for historical education and debate? What are the practices that can serve as examples to follow or demonstrate risks and challenges? 
• Digitalization and Digitization of Memory: How have digital technologies been reshaping memory practices, from online archives to AI-generated memory narratives? Do social media help or hinder in the shaping of shared narratives?
• Work, Economy, and Memory: How do economic structures, labor movements, and the transmission of collective memory interact?
• Health, Welfare, and Care: How does memory intersect with public health policies, care, and social welfare systems?
• Trauma, Affect, and Emotion: How do trauma, emotions, and affective responses influence collective memory and its transmission?
• Migration and (Post)Colonialism: How do colonial histories and migration experiences shape collective memory and identity? What can we learn from marginalized groups – including Indigenous communities whose traditions preserve alternative histories – about resilience?
• Intersectionality, Race, and Gender: How have race and gender shaped memory practices and historical narratives? What new approaches to memory work have emerged from feminism and anti-racism? Has their memory activism been successful in changing dominant narratives?
• Environment and the Post-Human: What is the role of memory in environmental justice and post-humanist perspectives on historical narratives? 
• Memory Theory and Methodology: What new theoretical and methodological approaches can advance the study of memory in relation to democracy?

We invite scholars from across disciplines to contribute to this critical dialogue. The 10th MSA Conference aims to foster interdisciplinary and methodologically diverse discussions that address the evolving relationship between memory and democracy in contemporary societies.

We invite various types of contribution: Individual presentations and full panels, but also roundtables and special events such as performances, screenings, exhibitions, workshops, etc.

To embed the conference in the beautiful city of Buenos Aires, we will also feature a cultural program by cooperating closely with local memory activists, cultural partners, and heritage sites.

Submission platform will be open from September 15 until October 15, 2025. The submission will take place through the conference website. Please note that the conference system operates according to Buenos Aires time zone (Argentina Standard Time, GMT-3).

Language: The MSA is committed to transdisciplinarity, cross-regional understanding, and inclusivity. To enable academic exchange across disciplines and regions, this conference will be bilingual (in English and Spanish), including panels that use both languages. All plenary sessions will be interpreted by professional translators. To ensure that all other sessions are as inclusive as possible we are working on strategies to facilitate bilingualism.

Abstracts must be submitted in English to ensure a fair and efficient review process. However, authors are welcome to provide an additional version of their paper in Spanish.

In Buenos Aires, the conference will also host the MSA Forward postgraduate workshop, which will take place on July 28, 2026. MSA Forward allows junior researchers to engage with other scholars in their field and receive feedback from established academics. As in previous years, we aim to provide a safe space for engaging in constructive discussions and an opportunity for networking and building lasting connections across disciplines. More information on the theme and the application process will be published soon.

A limited number of travel grants and fee waivers will be available for the conference. More information will be published in the coming weeks in the travel grants section.