Subtweet: the scholarly study of the past is not the same thing as the public memory of the past. Choosing to commemorate the past is always about selection and it is always political. Nothing is neutral (especially when it is claimed it is).
Subtweet 2: you can care about what commemoration, memorialisation, the past, heritage and museums means - and how they are used - and also care about contemporary healthcare, political structures, homelessness and any other social issue. It doesn’t have to be one or other.
In our current situation - Tories in WM manufacturing culture wars to maintain their Brexit nostalgic and marginalize minorities; going through various important centenaries as NI figures out its place within these islands - it’s pretty important to keep an eye on everything.
The past is not divorced from the present, our understandings of it shape how we see ourselves and our place in the world. It’s most easy to weaponize culture when we think it is unimportant and don’t question how politicians use it to sustain their narratives.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
