US President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin on June 12 , 1987 , calling for the leader of the Soviet Union , Mikhail Gorbachev , to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin since 1961 . Source : National Archives and Records Administration | Public domain
A commemoration should be not only a moment for remembering the past and paying tribute to the victims , but also a moment to reflect upon the commemoration itself – its achievements , its failures , and its evolution .
In a long-term perspective , the concept of “ memory ” is a recent evolution . It is likely part of a deeper phenomenon and an element of a new “ regime of historicity ”. This is a shift in the perception of time and the relationships between past , present , and future . Many historians and philosophers , i . e . François Hartog , suggest that the major change lies in the importance given to the present , the immediate satisfaction of needs , the inability to think about a remote future , and the trend to interpret the past through the lens of the present . This is what can be defined as “ presentism ” as opposed to a perception of time focusing on the future , which prevailed in the aftermath of the French Revolution until the 1970 ’ s , when most political actions were either positively or adversely influenced by the idea of Progress , a dynamic movement towards a better world .
For my own purpose , this new “ presentism ” regime of historicity includes the rather recent idea that contemporary societies could and should act upon the past . Repairing history has become a fundamental motto of our generations . Remembrance as a social activity is no longer a practice limited to a minority of activist groups like victims or veterans ’ associations as it still was the case before the “ memory boom ”. Today , the concept is implemented in public policies at a local , national , European , and international level . Its implementation involves a various range of stakeholders : international institutions and NGOs , central states and administrations , regional and
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