Abstract
In this paper I discuss the experience of a practice-research project whose central objective was to understand how digital archiving infrastructures could benefit grassroots initiatives of memory construction and symbolic reparation in post-conflict societies, with focus on Colombia. Because of the unequal distribution and access to digital tools and technologies, grassroots organizations among vulnerable communities are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to systematically document and showcase their work and contributions to reparation, reconciliation, and the defense of human rights after periods of conflict and violence. Consequently, they mostly rely on the support and expertise of state commissions and institutions, museums, documentation centers, and on different modalities of collaboration with universities. The project I discuss was designed to tackle these structures of dependency in order to advance the autonomy of participating initiatives for integrating the use of digital tools into their workflows and operational cultures. I discuss how, through a collaborative model and an activist research approach, the project addresses inequalities in access to digital resources that limit the capacities of the initiatives to communicate widely their work and have greater impact within their communities. I present a model of sustainable digital practices and infrastructures that not only serve the immediate documentation and archiving needs of the initiatives but implements a digital ecosystem for the sharing of knowledge and data. I argue that this model offers new possibilities for visibilizing the human rights and memory activism of the initiatives while serving also as a platform for public humanities research.
Presenters
Ricardo VelascoPostdoctoral Research Associate, Institute for Advanced Study, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, MN, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2024 Special Focus—Traveling Concepts: The Transfer and Translation of Ideas in the Humanities
KEYWORDS
Digital Ecologies, Digital Archiving, Memory, Symbolic Reparation, Colombia
