Law and the Politics of Memory

This book examines the role of law as a tool of memory politics in the efforts of various contemporary societies to work through the traumas of their past. It explores how law has become so central in processes of constituting the past as a series of injustices that need to be rectified and can allegedly be repaired. Addressing the politics of memory surrounding the Holocaust, communism and colonialism, Law and the Politics of Memory provides a critical exploration of law’s role in fulfilling such varied expectations as clarifying truth, rendering homage to memory and reconciling societies in ‘belated’ transitional justice contexts.