REVIEW
BOOK
Memory Activism and Digital Practices after Conflict .
Unwanted Memories .
Fridman , Orli . Amsterdam University Press , 2022
Dasa Duhacek Professor , political science department of Belgrade University
The book on Memory Activism by Prof . Orli Fridman is an outstanding contribution to a « growing body of literature exploring the social construction of collective memory ... the role of commemorative rituals and narratives ... and their impact on the political sphere ». 1 Relying on remarkable knowledge of the field and on extensive , in-depth research , this book is notable precisely because it is both a detailed case study of one of the most devastating conflicts at the end of the 20 th century and an exemplary work in memory studies .
Orli Fridman is not new to the field of conflict and memory studies . Besides insights into two international conflicts , the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the conflict following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s , she has , in over two decades , closely followed the complex unravelling of the aftermath of wars fought in the 1990s in Serbia , despite the official denial . Her research has resulted in a series of academic studies on the topics of assessing memory-building processes . Importantly , her academic research has been interwoven with her observation of and experience in peace activism .
The book , Memory Activism and Digital Practices after Conflict , provides the framework so as to grasp and present the complexity of the memory-building process . Given that the process lasts for decades , the author , in central chapters , analyses memory activism among two generations . The first generation was actually an active participant in the events themselves , events that in subsequent decades they would refer to and reflect on while building memories , which is why this generation was engaged in memory activism .
1
Orli Fridman , Memory Activism and Digital Practices after Conflict . Amsterdam University Press , 2022 . p . 23 , ( emphasis by DD )
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Observing Memories Issue 6