Memory Wars and the War on Memory, Memorial Sovereignty: Approaches, Conceptions and Projects

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to generalize the problems of socio-historical memory based on the material of social philosophy, as well as to attempt a balanced assessment of the current situation and strategies for preserving the genetic foundations of Russian culture. The research methodology is based on the idea of the complexity of open social systems and on a theoretical analysis of politico-sociological and socio-philosophical literature. A socio-philosophical interpretation of the conceptual distinction between social and historical memory is provided. Further, the paper describes the fundamental features of sociohistorical memory, which originates in the mechanism of reproduction of the genetic foundations of culture on the one hand, and in the specifics of the social structure of society on the other. The results of the study demonstrate that historical and social memory are inextricably linked, acting in relation to each other, firstly, as the content of memory, and secondly, as a way of organizing it, i.e. storing and broadcasting its content. In addition, the paper presents a brief overview of the current socio-philosophical issues of various aspects of sociohistorical memory and identifies the key modern actors of social memory and the problems of their interaction: memorial groups, memorial legislation, memory wars and the war on memory, as well as dilemmas about the understanding of the nature of conflict between various memory systems based on different value foundations. The authors note that historical memory is faced with challenges, overcoming which it undergoes a significant transformation by getting involved in the agenda of modern digital communication associated with a variety of new information phenomena that emerge due to the nature of the Internet. Taking into account the new conditions for socio-historical memory in Russia, the authors point out the vulnerability of classical methods of preserving and broadcasting memory. Thus, studying the experience of memory preservation and its adaptation to the new conditions of disseminating information becomes relevant. The authors conclude by outlining ways to solve the aforementioned problems.