ICTs and Remembering the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in Britain: An Occasion for Celebration or Remorse?

Abstract

AbstractThis paper will take the 2007 commemoration of the bicentenary of the abolition of the trans‐Atlantic slave trade by the United Kingdom as a case study to explore some of the dynamics that are generated when Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are used to shape social memory. Halbwach's proposition that memory is the product of a social group poses a fascinating challenge to many of the individualistic assumptions of the Western philosophical tradition.1 One of the major weaknesses of this theory, however, is that it says little about how memories are passed on within the same social group or transmitted from one generation to another.2 Existing work on this process of communication is in fact quite limited and tends to emphasise the role of commemorative ceremonies and bodily practices (such as gestures and manners).3 Even less attention has been paid to the role played by technological development.