Security and memory
Introduction
The aim of this essay is to argue that in addition to physical security, states also seek ontological security. I shall focus on the question of treating national identity and history as problems of security – i.e. discuss how and why memory gets designated in the security language. I will also discuss how collective remembrance can be securitised on a state, as well as on the international level. My referent object is therefore collective memory; by 'memory' I mean a discursive strategy of remembering the past that is implemented by political actors. Empirically, I address the relevance of the past and the semantic conflicts over the interpretation of history in Eastern Europe.
About the construction of narratives
A society transforms history into a cultural memory via a selection process, much like a writer who chooses to explicitly describe only some parts of the story he creates. Therefore, narratives are structured by emplotment, relationality, connectivity, and selective appropriation, all of which can make them unreliable. Memory (and history) can be influenced by the authorities’ legitimating narratives, starting with school textbooks and ending with open pressure on those that create the information available in a society (such as professional historians). Since historical narratives are constructed, they can easily be used for political purposes.
How is memory securitised?
The end of the Cold War created an environment for the emergence of Constructivist and post-modern approaches to the concept of security, which enabled to address issues that were previously ignored by Realists. However, Michael Williams has argued that identity has not been missing from theorising prior to the end of...
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...es and their 'others'. Desecuritisation of memory and pluralism instead of consensus in remembering in my opinion would help depoliticise some public political issues that are present in CEECs (integration policies concerning Russian minorities, immigration, language issues etc), but it is questionable if it is possible to depoliticise memory at all, i.e. move “out of a logic of security”.
Conclusion:
The proposed solution in the essay would still be pluralism instead of consensus in remembering:
The recognition of the other´s different stories means reaching an agreement to disagree on the ´national´ interpretations of historical events and issues rather than telling a single joint narrative on the past.
Self-image is inextricably interwoven with images of the other and therefore also with foreign policy.
Security seeking might also be viewed as a social practice.
In her essay “We should relinquish some liberty in exchange for security,” Mona Charen, a columnist and political analyst, speaks on the issue of security in the United States of America. She uses many significant techniques in her essay to persuade her readers of her argument. However, I feel that her essay fails to make a great argument because she relies heavily on assumptions, misses opportunities to appeal to pathos and ethos, and overall uses a degrading tone.
The dominant narrative is the story of an event that has gained support from the powerful, the narrative that has been written into historical texts and taught to each generation. Most importantly, the dominant narrative is what has existed throughout time because of the elite’s control. It is one version of the “truth”. Following th...
When the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011 rocked New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C., the word “tragedy” was used on a grandiose level around the world. For the people who lived close enough to experience the events first-hand, they may not have even called it a tragedy; perhaps they called it a misfortune, retaliation, lack of a strong government, unreal, or maybe even rebirth. In the coming years after the attacks, everything between standing united as a nation to declaring a war had flourished; but how has that left us - the land that has no distinct ethnicity - feel about each other? Why is it that fear is usually missing in the affective mnemonics of memorial sites, which, after all, are signifiers of some of the most horrific violence in human history? Do memorials dedicated to these attacks bring us together in terms of understanding, or is it just continual collective grief? This paper will cover the global complexity of the 9/11 attacks, the Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial in Liberty State Park, NJ, and factors and theories that memorials do influence a sense of complexity. The ground of public memory is always in motion, shifting with the tectonics of national identity. I chose the Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial as my topic of observation as I, personally, visit a few times throughout the year to pay respects to people I personally knew who perished in the attacks to the World Trade Center. I was in the 5th grade when this happened, and had absolutely no clue what was going on until my father did not return home until two days later with a bandage wrapped around his head and his devastating recollection of what happened just before he arrived to his job. The emotions that I feel within myself compared to others will...
To study history, the facts and information must be passed down. To do so, historians record the information in textbooks and other nonfiction works. Whether or not the historians retell facts or construct their own version of history is debatable. History can be percieved as being “constructed” by the historians due to their bias, elimination of controversy, strive for entertainment, and neglect to update the information.
In order to legitimise a regime or cause, traditions may be constructed around historical or mythological events, people or symbols that reinforce the image required to focus people’s conception of the past. People can be encouraged to invent a cohesive view of their shared ‘traditions’ by what could be called cherry picking bits of history.
He connected the events occurring in Yugoslavia and Rwanda back to the Holocaust, stating that the Holocaust along with World War II framed the Cold War and many of the events proceeding the war. Professor Suri’s discussion of the idea of race and ethnicity closely mirrored the ideas from this week’s readings in that it provided insight on how people justified genocide or segregation of certain people. Political entrepreneurship post-Cold War allowed for the mobilization of issues regarding ethnicity and race to become a highly-discussed topic. Consequently, this also is what generated a great amount of social unrest within these once heavily-monitored countries as Suri explained both in lecture and his book. Suri also explained how all these events post-civil war connects to the current events of today. The threat of terrorism is still very relevant and affects American’s lives as seen by the aftermath of 9/11 and the continued threat of ISIS. Social inequality and injustice is also still relevant today much like it was in the 1970’s and movements like Black Lives Matter and the continued fight for rights for all minorities were discussed by both Suri and
...n to both parties this misunderstanding. With a diverse mindset it allows you to look at the world with multiple views rather than just looking at it with a one specific type of view
Another instance of a concept that brings me back to historical events is the strong connection between the Oceanian society and the German Nazi society. After World War ² Germany was still in a stage of depression, Adolf Hitler promised a way out. So he began his brainwashing campaign and used load speakers and radio broadcasting. He started destroying books that opposed his views and murdered people that stood in his way to power. To keep control over society the inner party also used the same tactics. They formed a secret organization (known as the brotherhood) to stop any treat to the party. And built departments (Ministry of Love, Truth and Plenty) to keep the party in power, the party even eliminates or re-writes parts of history if needed.
Collective memory is the remembered history of a community; the way groups form memories out of a shared past to create a common identity. Collective memory is the structures that underlie all myths and histories without any distinction between them. The past that is fixed and internalized is myth, whether it is fact or fiction (Assmann 2011: 59). Therefore the memory of a group is a construction, or reconstruction, of the past. Collective memory can be expressed through a variety of different medias, e.g. festivals, rituals, symbols, memorial places, museums, as well as oral and written narratives, like myths, prophecies, law material, biographies and perceived historical accounts (Lewis 1975: 13). Each memory is specifically designed to recall events in the history of the collective. The past remembered is not necessarily a historically accurate past, but it is based on stories recognized to be the past as it has been remembe...
Gilbert, P. (1994). Terrorism, security, and nationality an introductory study in applied political philosophy. London: Routledge.
“Collective Memory and the Meanings of the Past” in Martyrdom and Memory by Elizabeth Castelli is overall not very similar to other scholarly texts. The text mainly focus on Christianity, which isn’t a religion that was discussed in class. The one major similarity between Castelli’s argument and other scholarly texts
The mammalian brain contains several different memory systems, which can be divided into declarative and non-declarative memory systems. Declarative memory can be further divided into episodic and semantic memory, and non-declarative memory can be divided into priming, associative learning, and procedural memory.
...et the wrongs they’ve suffered, even if these tribulations were justified. But mostly forgetting history poses a serious threat to the future. Sometimes we do need to know where we’ve been in order to know where we’re going. However, remembering is also a sticky subject. Debates erupt about which history is correct, and which should be remembered. It’s also a matter of enthusiasm as much as anything else. Remembering the Civil War as many Northerners and Southerners remember the war, as a war that happened, had certain ramifications, and otherwise doesn’t affect contemporary life, is much easier to justify and deal with than a zealous attitude toward a "Lost Cause." It is just that great enthusiasm leads to reverence for ancestors that do not necessarily deserve it. Still, it is not as if any individual can decide for another which ancestors are worth revering.
Collective memory is the cultural memory (? ) or the remembered history of a community: “Anyone who during today fixes his eyes on tomorrow must preserve yesterday from oblivion by grasping it through memory” (Assmann 2011: 17). Collective memory is the way groups form memories out of a shared past to create a common identity. The memory of a group is a construction, or reconstruction, of the past. Through the approach of collective memory we can distinguish a cultural sphere that combines tradition, awareness of history, myth in action, and self-definition. This cultural sphere is constantly subject to a vast range of historically conditioned changes (Assmann 2011: 10). Collective memory is the structures that underlie all myths and histories without any distinction between them. The past that is fixed and internalized is myth, whether it is fact or fiction (Assmann 2011: 59). Collective memory can be expressed through a variety of different medias, e.g. festivals, rituals, liturgy, symbols, flags, memorial places, museums, cultural artifacts, as well as oral and written narratives, like myths, prophecies, law material, biographies and perceived historical accounts (Van Seters 2012: 54). The memories are specifically designed to recall events in the history of the collective.
Kuzio, T. (2001). Historiography and National Identity among the Eastern Slavs: Towards a New Framework. National Identities, 3(2), 109-132