From the 'victim societies' to the 'societies of victimisation': the memory of military atrocities in South America

Abstract

This chapter provides an outline of the central issues regarding the memory of military atrocities in contemporary South America, highlighting the historical shifts in the regional politics of memory. The first section briefly outlines the meaning of the term ‘politics of memory’ explaining how the memory of past violence is pervaded by political decisions. I emphasise how the contested nature of the memory of military atrocities in South America begins at the very definition of what constitutes an atrocity. The section focusses on the normalisation of anti-communist values and, in particular, the dissemination of 20th-century theories of counterinsurgency in Latin America as essential elements that paved the way for state terror during the cold war. The following section discusses the role of the language of human rights in shaping the memory of military atrocities during regional processes of re-democratisation. I argue that liberal humanitarianism operated as an important register, translating previous demands of justice around the view of state terror as the breakdown of the rule of law and liberal democratic life. The section explains what was lost in translation in the mainstreaming of humanitarianism. The final section introduces the new politics of memory in South America, highlighting the memorial practices brought anew by new groups of activists and scholars who are beginning to question the traditional ways in which military atrocities are remembered.