Exhuming Bodies, Producing Knowledge: Collective Memory, Justice and Restitution in Contemporary Spain
This Colloquium Series and International Conference will explore the role that the recent exhumations of mass graves from the Spanish Civil War and subsequent dictatorship have had in the emergence of the movement for the “recovery of historical memory” in Spain. At the beginning of the 21st century, over 30,000 bodies were still interred in mass graves throughout the country. Subsequently, the emergence of civic associations, created by ordinary citizens to undertake exhumations of these graves, has had an enormous impact on Spanish society. In part, the media impact of the exhumations has led to pressure to pass the “Law of Historical Memory” by the Spanish Congress in October 2007, a significant, if insufficient, step towards confronting the legacy of the war and dictatorship in contemporary Spanish society. We will analyze the multiple and complex relations between bodies and knowledge that arise in these exhumations and that explain their political, social, cultural and legal significance
in Spain and in other post-authoritarian or post-conflict settings.
Come join us in these discussions. You are invited to attend any one or all of the monthly discussions, as well as the April Conference. You do not have to attend the Colloquium Series to attend the Conference.
Schedule of events:
October 30, 2009 3:30 – 5:00 614 Social Science Building
Colloquium Topic: Cries and Whispers: Exhuming and Narrating Defeat in Spain Today, by Francisco Ferrándiz.
Post-colloquium dialogue continues courtesy of Dr. Joanna O'Connell, Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
December 11, 2009 3:00 – 4:30 614 Social Science Building
Colloquium Topic: Volver: The Return of/to Transitional Justice Politics in Spain, by Stephanie R. Golob
January 29, 2010 3:00 – 4:30 614 Social Science Building
Colloquium Topic: "The Srebrenica Ghost Team" from Justice in the Balkans, byJohn Hagan
February 26, 2010 3:00 – 4:30 614 Social Science Building
Colloquium Topic: TBA
March 26, 2010 3:00 – 4:30 614 Social Science Building
Colloquium Topic: TBA
April 23-24, 2010 University International Center
International Conference
*Please read scheduled readings in advance of colloquium. Conference and colloquiums are open to interested faculty, graduate students, and K-14 teachers.
Sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Study, the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, the Department of Political Science and the European Studies Consortium at the University of Minnesota, as well as the Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain's Ministry of Culture and US Universities