Memory Building and Istitba’ in Divided Societies

Abstract

This paper studies collective memory in divided societies. To do so, we begin by studying national memory in civil societies, where the nature of this memory is hegemonic. We use Gramsci’s concept of hegemony to explain national memories in civil societies and differentiate it from that of contested memories in divided places. In order to explain memory in divided societies, we apply Ibn Khaldoun’s concepts of ‘aAsabiyah and Istitba’. Societies deeply divided tend to have contested memories at two levels: within a community which creates an internal other and outside the community where groups compete to impose their memory at the state level. We use examples from Lebanon, Northern Ireland and Bosnia‐Herzeogvina to explain the memory dynamics from a Khaldounian perspective.