The Miller Center | The Politics of Vernacular Memory in Post-Colonial African Contexts | David Mwambari
The Miller Center | The Politics of Vernacular Memory in Post-Colonial African Contexts | David Mwambari
In this lecture, Prof. David Mwambari will explore the evolution of memory politics in post-colonial Africa over the last two decades. Societies take different paths when coming to terms with violent pasts. Some undertake active commemorations (e.g., rituals, memorials, and ceremonies), while others elect for silence, forgetting uncomfortable memories or remembering privately through vernacular platforms for many reasons. These memories and silences interact in public—in national, regional, and international politics. They shape the memory politics of the past and modern lived experiences as societies negotiate transitions. They influence peace and (in)security for these societies and beyond. This lecture will draw on empirical examples from research in postwar states in East, Central, and West Africa and beyond.
Professor David Mwambari is an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and the principal investigator for the European Research Council (ERC)-funded TMSS project. He is core faculty and a board member at the Oxford Consortium on Human Rights, University of Oxford.
Mwambari actively mentors early career scholars in Africa and the African diaspora, as well as early career scholars based in Latin America and East Asia. He also participates in community projects to train history teachers in East Africa. He occasionally does consultancy projects that seek solutions to pressing issues in healthcare, education, peace, and security beyond disciplinary boundaries.
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