Memory in transition

de Michelle J. Bellino, Harvard University. Graduate School of Education

In the aftermath of mass violence, history education that depicts the violent past is considered an essential element of transitional justice processes, clarifying the historical record, reestablishing moral frameworks, promoting reconciliation, and acknowledging public memory of past atrocity for future generations. But how do individuals and communities narrate recent injustice in ways that empower youth, foster civic agency, and promote democratic culture? And how does this story shift or lose credibility when the transitional justice process fails to transform society? This study centers on Guatemala in the aftermath of a thirty-six-year "armed conflict" (1960-1996), which included ethnic genocide. More than a decade after peace negotiations, Guatemala's "postwar" context is characterized by pervasive violence and impunity, and is consistently referred to as a failing state at risk of renewed conflict. Comprising a multi-sited ethnography, this study documents the way that adolescents at four schools, embedded in distinct urban and rural communities, make meaning of their country's history of authoritarianism, while developing their civic identities within a struggling democracy. Through multi-year ethnographic data, this research demonstrates how adolescents' construction of the violent past functions as a mediator in their development as civic actors, illustrating the way that youth draw on historical understanding in everyday interactions, as they decide whether to engage with, trust, question, or challenge fellow citizens and the institutional structures that organize their society. Civic attitudes and actions are critical components of democratic culture, yet we know little about the mechanisms underlying civic development, the quality of educational experiences that nurture this growth, and how young people shape their civic identities after the human rights and civil contracts have been egregiously violated. Drawing on youth perspectives, this research contributes to a body of knowledge dedicated to improving the quality of education in states undergoing democratic transition, while expanding the empirical base for civic education.