Mean Streets: Power, ideology and the politics of memory

Abstract

What determines whether contested places of memory are kept or officially removed in a democracy? To answer this question, we look at Francoist street names in Spain to identify the effect of party ideology on the manipulation of lieux de mémoire. Using a regression discontinuity design, we analyze 5,500 municipalities over a period of 16 years. We find that mayors of the main right-wing party are more likely to preserve Francoist names, whilst mayors of the main left-wing party are more likely to replace them. Upon replacing, right-wing local governments are more likely to choose new names leaning to the right than left-wing governments. Our findings illustrate that, even within a democratic framework, the public space can be shaped beyond citizens’ preferences in favor of the ruling power. Additionally, we show that parties can be important actors in qualifying what is to be remembered, imprinting ideological biases in the landscape.