Abstract
Social representations of history play an important role in defining the identity of national and supranational groups such as Latin America, and also influencing present-day intergroup relations. In this paper, we discuss a study that aimed to analyse and compare social representations of Latin American history among Brazilian, Chilean, and Mexican participants. We conducted a survey with 213 university students, aged 18 to 35 years old, from these three countries, through an online questionnaire with open-ended questions about important events and people in the region's history. Despite the reference to different historical events and the existence of national specificities, several common topics were noteworthy across the three samples. There was a centrality of events involving political issues, conflicts and revolutions, as well as a recency effect and a sociocentric bias, replicating previous research about social representations of world history in different countries. There was also a strong prominence of colonization and independence issues in all samples. Through an emphasis on a common narrative of struggle and overcoming difficulties, the participants’ social representations of Latin American history may favour mobilization and resistance, challenging the stability and legitimacy of the existing social order. Furthermore, the findings are discussed in terms of their potential connections with present-day intergroup relations within Latin America, and between Latin America and other parts of the world.
Highlights
Social representations of history are closely linked to the social identities of different groups, as well as the relations that occur between them
We chose to separate these constructs in order to encourage discussions about representations of the “discoveries,” which are fundamental to the construction of Latin American history and the identity dynamics of those who belong to this region
Further studies should analyse the existence and configuration of inter-generational effects of collective memories of Latin American history and the role that the media play in reinforcing or challenging hegemonic social representations of the region’s history. This exploratory study contributed to the literature on social representations of history by providing further data regarding supranational groups
Summary
Social representations of history (i.e., shared knowledge about a group’s past) are closely linked to the social identities of different groups, as well as the relations that occur between them. Latin America, the context we studied, is a very diverse region that went through a violent process of European colonization, involving the genocide and enslavement of indigenous groups, as well as the forced displacement of Africans brought through the slave trade. Previous studies regarding social representations of world history found that people tend to: remember recent events (recency bias), mention events related to conflicts, war and politics (centrality of warfare and politics) and events that involved their own country (sociocentric bias). Considering the long process of colonization that the region went through, we wanted to better understand the role of this colonial experience on participants’ remembrances about Latin American history
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