Publications

Additional publications are available on the Online Resource Center, a forum where registered members can participate in discussion and access all the resources of the Coalition. (Free registration required.)

For printed copies of our publications, please e-mail us at coalition@sitesofconscience.org.

 

Making Memory: Memorialization Efforts in the Middle East and North Africa
4/2012
Access the publication here.
Watch the accompanying MENA Regional Meeting photo slideshow.

The 2011 uprisings in the Arab world brought new opportunities for citizen engagement and democracy building. As countries across the Middle East and North Africa attempt to come to terms with past regimes of repression and authoritarianism, key questions remain:  What are the mechanisms that need to be put in place to allow societies to come to terms with the past?  How can a society that was entrenched in a culture of silence and repression rebuild relations among citizens by promoting civic engagement and dialogue? What is the role of memorialization in coming to terms with the past?

In attempting to address some of these questions, the Coalition hosted a regional meeting from 18-20 January 2012 in Casablanca, Morocco. This introductory meeting of memory initiatives in the Middle East brought together 20 participants representing the diverse fields of arts and culture, memory and memorialization, heritage, human rights and transitional justice. The report encapsulates common themes that the participants identified, as well as challenges and opportunities for working together in the region.

 

Memory Beyond Transitions: The Role of Memory in Long-Term Social Reconstruction, Article in the International Journal of Transitional Justice
1/2012

This book review by Coalition staffer Ereshnee Naidu examines three books that focus on the significance of memory and Transitional Justice processes in Spain, Chile, and South Africa. The essay provides an overview of  many  issues facing Sites of Conscience, featuring Ms. Naidu’s own commentary on the changing landscape of Transitional Justice as molded by her experience in the field.

While we hope to make this article publicly available in the future, please note it is currently available by subscription at IJTJ’s website.

 


Exhibitionist: Museums, Memorials, and Sites of Conscience
National Association for Museum Exhibition, Fall 2011
$10.00, Available for purchase here

“Struggles over how we remember and represent the past are inextricably linked to struggles over representation and resources in the present. If museums stay completely silent on the issues that are of greatest concern to their communities, will they be rejected as irrelevant and unresponsive?  Or is there a way in which sites can serve as forums for their publics to gain historical perspective on the questions that divide them today and discuss how they should be addressed in the future?”

Coalition staff members pose these provocative questions in a new article for Exhibitionist, the biannual journal of the National Association for Museum Exhibition. The Fall 2011 edition focuses on the role museums and memorials play outside their traditional functions as exhibition sites. The edition features submissions from the Coalition staff, Mofidul Hoque of Liberation War Museum, and Wendy Abel-Weiss of the  Tribute WTC Visitor Center, as well as case studies of Maison des Esclaves, Heart Mountain, Space Matters and Manzanar National Historic Site.

“Sites of Conscience seek to serve as significant new tools for building lasting cultures of human rights and democracy,” writes Program Director Sarah Pharaon. “By initiating new conversations about contemporary issues through a historical lens, places of memory can become new centers for democracy in action.”

 


Museums of Ideas: Commitment and Conflict
MuseumsEtc Ltd., 12/12/2011
£59.95GBP, Available for purchase here

How can we make the past matter?

The Coalition’s own Bix Gabriel re-poses this question, first addressed a decade ago by the nine founding Sites of Conscience, in the opening chapter of Museums of Ideas: Commitment and Conflict, available December 12 from MuseumsEtc, Ltd. of Edinburgh.

Eight Coalition members contributed their experiences to the 622-page anthology, posing their own questions and examining the choices that drove them to become Sites of Conscience.

“What if  a museum chose an idea, a difficult issue that its community needed to grapple with?” writes Tom Hanchett of the Levine Museum of the New South.

“How can we preserve and differentiate memory from the ‘duty of memory’?” ask Marzia Gigli, Elena Monicelli and Mattia Seligardi of Monte Sole.

“Do we need to have, or want to have, one view of history… that is shared by all, one that ignores the diversities that exist?” wonders Adrian Kerr of the Museum of Free Derry.

The volume addresses these questions and many more.  Chapters from museums, universities, scholars and survivors worldwide broach diverse topics from risk and courage to storytelling and participation to guide and inspire a new generation of museums. ”Throughout the world, some of today’s most challenging  and dynamic museums are those founded on the basis of ideas,” write the editors in the book’s introduction. “The collecting and preserving of objects retains importance, but the motivation for the establishment of these museums lies elsewhere.  Their sizes, budgets, scope, ambitions and themes differ very widely, but they all tend to be driven, energised and committed in a way which sets them apart.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Coalition members contributing to Museums of Ideas include:

 

Rites of Return
Columbia University Press, 12/2/11
$27.50, Available for purchase here

“How can tourism – so strongly associated with passive, if respectful, observation – inspire activism?  What role can stories of resistance, daily life and culture, or even complicity play in the study of tragic histories?”

International Coalition of Sites of Conscience founding director Liz Sevčenko approaches these questions and more in her contribution to editors Marianne Hirsch and Nancy K. Miller’ s new collection, Rites of Return (Columbia University Press, 2011). Rites of Return invites 24 historians, critics, scholars and museum workers to examine the 21st century trend toward re-engagement with histories of atrocity through new technologies of genealogy, family and political memoir, roots-seeking journeys, and memorialization.

In her article,  ’Sites of Conscience:  Lighting Up Dark Tourism, Sevčenko explores Sites’ of Conscience unique ability to transform ‘dark tourism’ – travel to sites of tragedy or mass death – into action for a more just and peaceful future. Using case studies from the Coalition’s founding members, she details Sites’ of Conscience role in uncovering “profound connections between social rites and political and legal rights of return.”

 

Making Chega! A Reality: Memory and Memorialization in Timor-Leste
11/2011
Access the publication here.

After declaring independence in 1975, East Timor was illegally occupied by Indonesia from 1975 – 1999, characterized by significant loss of civilian life and widespread and systematic violations of human rights. With the coming of the new Indonesian President, Timor-Leste was offered a referendum on its future and voted  in favor independence from Indonesia. The resulting civil unrest forced tens of thousands of Timorese into Indonesian West Timor, killed and violated many pro-independence Timorese, and destroyed some 70% of the country’s buildings. In  2000, a Congress of all resistance parties called for the establishment of a reconciliation mechanism to address past violence and unite the new country.  By drawing on the work of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience in post-conflict contexts as they address issues of impunity, justice and reconciliation, this report highlights recommendations for the way forward on memorialization in Timor-Leste.

The Coalition’s regional activities are made possible, in part, with generous support from the National Endowment for Democracy.

 

From Nyayo House to Godown Arts Center: A Needs Assessment of Memorialization Initiatives in Kenya
5/2011
Access the publication here.

In 2007, over 1000 people were killed and 600,000 displaced after violence erupted near Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Scratching the surface reveals that Kenya has suffered from cycles of violence over the years, particularly around its elections. This report, written by the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, looks at the role memory and historical understanding can play in preventing violence like this in the future.

This project was made possible in part with support from the Lambent Foundation Fund of the Tides Foundation and the National Endowment for Democracy.


Sites of Conscience: Re-imagining Reparations, Article in Change Over Time
5/2011
An essay about Sites of Conscience appears in the first edition of the journal Change Over Time, which explores heritage issues worldwide. The essay looks at sites that are being preserved as part of official state reparations and explores some of the strategies these sites use to engage divided communities, the challenges they face, and the opportunities they represent for the heritage field.

Read more about the journal in the table of contents here.


Article in Heritage, Memory & Identity
4/2011
Cover of Heritage Memory and IdentitySAGE Publishing has published an article on Sites of Conscience and their approach to heritage as part of a collection of essays on the impact of globalization on heritage practice. The article was written by former Coalition director Liz Sevcenko and draws from the work of Sites of Conscience around the world to build a case for “Heritage of and for Human Rights.” The essay explores questions such as: What does a heritage practice for human rights look like? What is required to promote a lasting culture of human rights and civic participation? And what role can heritage play in that process?

To learn more about the Cultures and Globalization series and purchase a copy of the book, download this PDF or visit Sage Publications.


Impact of Sites of Conscience: Article in the International Journal of Transitional Justice
12/2010

The Coalition is pleased to share an article on the impact of Sites of Conscience in a special issue on evaluation of the International Journal of Transitional Justice (IJTJ).In 2009, the Coalition launched a study of key youth programs at three member sites: the Liberation War Museum in Bangladesh, Villa Grimaldi in Chile, and the Monte Sole Peace School in Italy. Using evaluation techniques from the fields of transitional justice, peace education, and museums, this study sought to understand the impact of Sites of Conscience youth programs on participants, both short- and long-term, as a way to continue to document best practices and refine Sites of Conscience methodologies world-wide.

The article in IJTJ describes how the study found that participation in Sites of Conscience programs has impact on young people in a number of ways, including changing opinions, raising awareness, improving relationships, encouraging civic engagement, and increasing emotional understanding of the human consequences of atrocity. The article argues for increased investment in evaluation of Sites of Conscience programming, clearer articulation of goals and activities by transitional justice mechanisms, and for transitional processes to make better use of memorial sites to achieve their goals.

Please note that the article is currently only available by purchasing a copy via IJTJ’s website.


MUSEUM International Features “Sites of Conscience: New Approaches to Conflicted Memory”
8/2010
The International Coalition is pleased to announce that the latest issue (No. 245-6) of MUSEUM International, journal of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), features Sites of Conscience and their approaches to conflicted memory. In an issue dedicated to “Heritage: Conflict and Consensus,” founding Director Liz Sevcenko writes about strategies used around the world by Sites of Conscience to help communities confront the questions that divide them:

For better or for worse, heritage is a key terrain on which larger societal conflicts are expressed and addressed. This could seem deeply discouraging if conflict over heritage is seen as a problem to be managed, an obstacle to be overcome. However, if such contestation about the past is viewed instead as an opportunity to facilitate critically needed dialogue on contemporary issues, we could open up new possibilities for heritage sites in civic life.

To read the article, visit: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0033.2010.01720.x/abstract

Connecting Past and Present: The International Coalition’s Annual Report
7/2008
Annual ReportThe International Coalition’s first annual report, Connecting Past and Present, describes the work of Sites of Conscience around the world: how they are opening dialogue on critical questions in their communities and how they are working together to build an international movement to remember the past and confront contemporary issues.

Memorialization and Democracy: State Policy and Civic Action
6/2008
What is the relationship between public memorialization and other mechanisms of transitional justice? Do memorials have a limited life span? What design decisions can help give them a longer life? Shouldn’t memory discriminate when it comes to human rights and democratic values?

These are a sample of the questions raised and discussed in a report from the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and FLACSO-Chile. The report puts forth the first set of recommendations for national and international frameworks to support Sites of Conscience as developed by the 130 participants from 20 countries in the international conference “Memorialization and Democracy: State Policy and Civic Action” which the Coalition, with Villa Grimaldi Peace Park, hosted in June 2007 in Santiago, Chile.

Public Historian
2/2008
In February 2008, the Public Historian, the official journal of the National Council of Public History in the United States, published a special issue on Sites of Conscience. The issue focuses on the ways in which society’s response to museums, memorials, and historical sites can grow from passive observation to active engagement.

Available through the website http://www.ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=tph, the issue features the following essays from Sites of Conscience:

Click here to read the foreword and browse the Table of Contents. For the complete publication, please visit www.ucpressjournals.com.

The Power of Place
9/2004
The Power of Place, a publication of the New Tactics in Human Rights Project describes the founding of the Coalition and the premise of Sites of Conscience. It includes tactics for harnessing the power and potential of historic sites and museums to inspire dialogue and civic action and showcases the diverse strategies used by some of the Coalition’s founding sites.

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