Memory education is often seen as a privileged tool to socialize and form democratic citizens, and memory politics serve to legitimize states and construct a shared narrative of the country’s past. At the same time, we are faced with memory politics that support a democratization process, and a democratization process of memory politics itself. This panel aims to combine insights into these two processes to understand the fundamental interdependence of the two. Recent calls in memory studies are demanding attention to the memorialization of long term social processes (Wustenberg, 2023, Craps et al., 2017). A reflection on collective memories of democratization processes could be a step towards meeting these calls, yet it should not be taken for granted that democratization is therefore necessarily remembered as a gradual process. By combining different case studies in which the democratization process followed different trajectories, particularly on different temporal scales, we aim to exchange insights into the various ways in which democratization is being framed in contemporary memory politics. Anthe Baele will discuss the representation of democratization in Flemish civic integration courses as a linear trajectory of progress, whereas the presentations of Pedro Henrique Batistella and Vitória Ivo explore contrasting memories of democratization and dictatorship in Brazil and Argentina, including memorialization of redemocratization as a potential counterpoint to the aforementioned linear progress narratives. Finally, Manon Mortier discusses journalistic commemoration of a ‘new’ state from a foreign and post colonial perspective, as she discusses Belgian commemorative journalism of Congolese Independence in Flemish Public Broadcasting.
It is through a confrontation of both perspectives, memory of democratization and democratization of memory, that we aim to explore the entanglement of the two not only on the level of representations but also with regard to the social relations that shape collective memory (Gensburger, 2016).
La educación sobre la memoria suele considerarse una herramienta privilegiada para socializar y formar ciudadanos democráticos, y la política de la memoria sirve para legitimar a los Estados y construir una narrativa compartida sobre el pasado del país. Al mismo tiempo, nos enfrentamos a políticas de memoria que apoyan un proceso de democratización, así como a un proceso de democratización de la política de la memoria en sí. Este panel busca combinar perspectivas sobre ambos procesos para comprender su interdependencia fundamental.
Recientes llamados en los estudios de la memoria exigen prestar atención a la memorialización de procesos sociales de largo plazo (Wustenberg, 2023; Craps et al., 2017). Una reflexión sobre las memorias colectivas de los procesos de democratización podría ser un paso hacia responder a estos llamados, aunque no se debe asumir que la democratización sea necesariamente recordada como un proceso gradual. Al combinar diferentes estudios de caso en los que el proceso de democratización siguió trayectorias distintas, especialmente en diferentes escalas temporales, buscamos intercambiar perspectivas sobre las diversas formas en que la democratización está siendo enmarcada en la política de la memoria contemporánea.
Anthe Baele analizará la representación de la democratización en los cursos de integración cívica flamencos como una trayectoria lineal de progreso, mientras que las presentaciones de Pedro Henrique Batistella y Vitória Ivo exploran memorias contrastantes de democratización y dictadura en Brasil y Argentina, incluyendo la memorialización de la redemocratización como posible contrapunto a las narrativas lineales de progreso mencionadas. Finalmente, Manon Mortier abordará la conmemoración periodística de un “nuevo” Estado desde una perspectiva extranjera y poscolonial, al analizar el periodismo conmemorativo belga sobre la independencia congoleña en la radiodifusión pública flamenca.
Es a través de la confrontación de ambas perspectivas —la memoria de la democratización y la democratización de la memoria— que buscamos explorar el entrelazamiento de ambas no solo a nivel de representaciones, sino también en relación con las dinámicas sociales que configuran la memoria colectiva (Gensburger, 2016).
Anthe Baele, Ghent University, New democratic citizens? Civic integration trajectories and the use of history education.
In Flanders, Belgium, newcomers from outside the European Union are required to follow a civic integration programme (Arnout et. al., 2009). This program includes language classes and a trajectory towards work, but also a Social Orientation course (AGII, 2022). These courses aim to give tools to be able to fully participate in Flemish society (Cambier, 2018). This includes classes on housing, education or health care, but also to a large extent the “core values and norms” of Flemish society (Bossuyt, 2006). Central, here, is the democratic character of Flanders (Braet, 2017). In this paper, I argue that based on an implicit assumption that non-European newcomers originate from non-democratic contexts, the curriculum increasingly presents Belgium as a model democracy through a strongly normative discourse. Moreover, history education has become increasingly present in civic integration (Baele, 2023). This paper explores how the history curriculum is used to construct a narrative in which democracy is framed as a linear trajectory of progress, marked by the acquisition of rights and growing equality. Drawing on participatory observations and interviews with teachers and newcomers, I explore how in history education, a democratic narrative does or does not differ from a nationalist one. I argue that civic integration practices greatly differ from curricula. While curricula are becoming increasingly normative, the in-class debate surrounding ‘Flemish’ values remains central today (Zyngier, 2012). Teachers actively engage with their participants to spark discussion on dominant values and norms, emphasizing acknowledgement rather than appropriation. However, the increasing standardization of courses, coupled with Flemish nationalist policies, means that this debate is in danger of being lost. In this way, the historical education on democracy is in danger of becoming undemocratic itself.
Manon Mortier, Ghent University, Mediating Memory in Journalism: the Commemoration of Congolese Independence in Flemish Public Broadcasting (2000-2025)
Collective memories are continuously transmitted, negotiated, and reconstructed across a multitude of communicative platforms, including news media. Journalism occupies a pivotal position as both an actor and an arena in the constitution of the public sphere. McNair (2018) delineates several core journalistic functions: information, interpretation, representation, interrogation, and advocacy. Through these roles, journalism contributes fundamentally to the sustenance of democratic culture. As Michael Schudson (2018) provocatively asked, “Journalism may exist without democracy, but can democracy exist without journalism?”
This paper therefore examines journalism’s role as a public forum for the articulation and contestation of collective memories and historical discourses. It interrogates the degree to which democratic values (particularly pluralism) are manifested in journalistic practices, including source selection and narrative construction. In other words: how diverse are the voices and perspectives made visible to the public?
Recognizing news media as “institutions of commemoration” (Schudson, 2014), the study investigates how Flemish public broadcasting has represented the memory of Congolese independence (30 June 1960) over the past two decades. Which voices are foregrounded, and to what extent do conflicting memory discourses and historical narratives coexist? What mediating role do journalists play in shaping collective remembrance? Drawing on a mixed-methods approach that integrates content analysis of over 80 radio and television news items with interviews involving historians and journalists, the paper reflects on how journalism functions as a democratic forum for engaging with the memory of Congolese independence.
Pedro Henrique Batistella, Federal University of Ouro Preto - Commemorations of national anniversaries in the Brazilian “New Republic”: temporality, citizenship and democracy
The Brazilian redemocratization process, which marked the end of the last civil military dictatorship (1964-1985) and the beginning of the period conventionally called “New Republic”, was accompanied by a broad social debate on modern notions of nation, national memory and identity (SOUSA, 2018). This intersection between the redemocratization project, history and memory reached a milestone with the promulgation of the 1988 Federal Constitution, grounded on ethnical racial and equality principles.As contemporary historiography has pointed out, these constitutional principles were not only the result of emancipatory struggles from indigenous and black movements, but also the current democratic period has been characterized by the overlap of democratic and anti democratic projects (TURIN, 2022). In view of that, this paper seeks to verify how commemorative occasions have reflected the ongoing dispute around the connections between history, memory and democratic, and anti democratic projects. For this purpose, I analyze critical interventions stated by Pataxós people in official celebrations of 500th anniversary of “Discovery” of Brazil in 2000, alongside the participation of bolsonaristas in the civil military parade marking the Bicentennial of Brazilian Independence Day in 2022. Through a comparative analytical approach, I aim to explore how these interventions within the commemorative rituals reveal distinct political ways of relating the historical present to the colonial and slavery pasts in the commemorative language. Finally, drawing on the notion of politics of time (BEVERNAGE, 2018) I argue that these memory conflicts express a broader dispute over who is recognized as a legitimate group of citizenship and political agency in contemporary Brazilian democracy.
Vitoria Ivo, PhD UFOP. Memory Crisis, Democracy Crisis: The Dismantling and Negacionism of Dictatorships in Brazil and Argentina .
Driven in the 2000s by the rise of progressive governments in Brazil and Argentina, memory policies enabled the reinterpretation of dictatorships’ legacies in the Southern Cone, as they both represent the past and serve political functions (OBERTI; PITTALUGA, 2006). These initiatives fostered collective identities through the creation of memory sites in former torture centers — such as the former ESMA, now the Space for Memory and Human Rights in Buenos Aires, and the Memorial da Resistência in São Paulo — as well as commemorative dates like Argentina’s “Day for Memory” on March 24 and the establishment of Brazil’s Comissão Nacional da Verdade in 2014. Considering that memory policies respond to contemporary demands (BAUER, 2021) and follow non linear trajectories, this study examines how memories of the Argentine and Brazilian dictatorships intersect with current democratic crises driven by the far right governments of Javier Milei (2023–present) and Jair Bolsonaro (2019–2022). In Argentina, Néstor Kirchner’s administration reopened the agenda on the recent past, building on earlier transitional justice efforts such as CONADEP, the Nunca Más report, and the prosecution of military officers for crimes against humanity. In Brazil, by contrast, remembrance of the dictatorship was shaped by conciliatory policies that avoided direct state accountability and limited reparative justice. This research analyzes how the far right’s resurgence in both countries promotes negacionism and dismantling of memory policies, revealing new forms of symbolic and institutional violence. These strategies reactivate authoritarian legacies, reinforce fear and social fragmentation, and erode democratic principles grounded in human rights and dignity. Ultimately, the study argues that current disputes over memory reflect broader struggles for political legitimacy and citizenship in the fragile democracies of the contemporary Southern Cone.
Vitória Ivo, PhD, Universidad Federal de Ouro Preto - Crisis de la Memoria, Crisis de la Democracia: El Desmantelamiento y el Negacionismo de las Dictaduras en Brasil y Argentina.
Impulsadas en los años 2000 por el ascenso de gobiernos progresistas en Brasil y Argentina, las políticas de memoria permitieron reinterpretar los legados de las dictaduras en el Cono Sur, al representar el pasado y cumplir una función política (OBERTI; PITTALUGA, 2006). Estas iniciativas fomentaron identidades colectivas mediante la creación de espacios de memoria en antiguos centros de tortura —como la ex ESMA, hoy Espacio para la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos en Buenos Aires, y el Memorial da Resistência en São Paulo—, así como conmemoraciones como el “Día de la Memoria” (24 de marzo) y la creación de la Comissão Nacional da Verdade en Brasil en 2014.
Considerando que las políticas de memoria responden a demandas del presente (BAUER, 2021) y que su desarrollo es no lineal, este estudio analiza cómo las memorias de las dictaduras argentina y brasileña se vinculan con las crisis democráticas actuales. En Argentina, la gestión de Néstor Kirchner reactivó la agenda del pasado reciente mediante la CONADEP, el informe Nunca Más y los juicios a los represores; mientras que en Brasil prevalecieron políticas conciliadoras que evitaron la responsabilización estatal y limitaron las reparaciones.
El estudio examina cómo el avance de la extrema derecha en ambos países impulsa el negacionismo y el desmantelamiento de las políticas de memoria, reactivando legados autoritarios y debilitando los principios democráticos basados en los derechos humanos y la dignidad. Las disputas actuales sobre la memoria expresan luchas por la legitimidad política y la ciudadanía en las frágiles democracias del Cono Sur.
20260731T110020260731T1230America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires8.11. Memory of Democracy/Democracy of Memory [ES/EN]SV403 (ART)MSA Buenos Aires 2026buenosairesconference@memorystudiesassociation.org
