Law and Memory

Abstract

In today’s society, we face an influx of legal demands that are grounded in past injustices and growing numbers of groups that claim a privileged right to victimhood. This article examines ways in which the law has been invoked in present-day France by different civil society constituencies that assert a collective identity of victimhood with regard to colonialism. Colonialism has become the major memory preoccupation in France, and contestation over the meaning of colonialism is increasingly being waged in the legal realm. In these memory battles, groups whose experiences of colonialism in reality are complex aim to portray themselves as victims. This article explores the significance of law for memory and identity claims, and asserts that law is an important instrument in ‘struggles for recognition’ for those who claim a legacy of victimhood for past injustices. This is because the law formalises and legitimises particular narratives of victimhood. As such, the law serves as a potentially empowering tool for victim groups. However, memory and identity battles can hardly be resolved by legal engagement. Resorting to the law may actually lead to further polarisation of memories and identities, which may hamper rather than facilitate reconciliation and ‘the turning of the page’.