Abstract
In Memory Activism and Digital Practices after Conflict, Orli Fridman studies the creation of alternative commemorative rituals and alternative commemorative calendars as sites of counter-memories in Serbia, Belgrade in particular. The author explores practices through which non-state actors engage in remembrance and produce oppositional knowledge of ‘unwanted memories’, as activists call officially silenced memories of Yugoslavia’s violent break-up in the 1990s. She traces the development of memory activism in Serbia as a continuation of anti-war activism that represents a strand of peace activism (p. 30). Her aim is to understand how the social organization of memory shapes processes of post-conflict remembrance and what role memory activism and alternative commemorative events play in generating civic engagement, empathy, and hope after conflict (p. 19).
This book provides an empirically rich exploration that results from extensive research on collective memory and alternative commemorations in this region since the early 2000s. It presents a coherent framework under which Fridman brings together previous works through which she has become a leading scholar on memory activism in Serbia (including collaborative texts, Fridman and Hercigonja, 2017; Fridman and Ristić, 2020). Her interest in actors who step out of compulsory denial in a societal context that disabled empathy for the other arises from her own political journey in Israel, where the encounter of Palestinian counter-memories put her at unease with Israel’s official memory narratives (described in the preface). Her professional and personal experience support an authentic comparative perspective on conflict and memory.
The book consists of an introductory chapter that presents the study’s framework and five analytical chapters. Chapter 1 contextualizes memory activism in Serbia within the country’s memoryscape. Chapters 2 to 4 form the book’s core, presenting case studies on mnemonic claims and practices of different generations of memory activists based on an analysis of alternative commemorative events. Chapter 5 widens the perspective to memory activism in the post-Yugoslav region with its shared legacy. Reflecting the author’s notion that it is too early to remark on the long-term influence of this memory activism (p. 63f), the book does not have a concluding chapter.
In the introduction, the author presents the framework for this study of the creation of commemorations occurring outside official state channels. Two main threads connect the cases. The first is the recently discussed link between memory and activism, referred to as a ‘memory-activism nexus’ (Rigney, 2018). In particular, the study relates to memory activism, which explores how actors struggle to shape future remembrance, and memory of activism, which addresses the cultural recollection of past struggles. Fridman particularly contributes to the exploration of the memory-activism nexus through a generational lens as a second thread along which she explores the evolution of memory activism in Serbia, including continuities and shifts in mnemonic practices. Moreover, the generational lens enables an examination of memory of activism, showing how new generations of memory activists consciously build upon the legacies of the first generation’s struggle.
These generations of memory activists are defined by their proximity or distance from the experiences of Yugoslavia’s violent dissolution. The first generation, composed of individuals who came of age in socialist Yugoslavia, experienced the 1990s as adults. Activists of the second generation, born in the 1990s, have almost no living memories or experience, except maybe for memories of the 1999 NATO bombing and war in Kosovo, and had to critically educate themselves about these topics. There is also an ‘in-between generation’ composed of individuals born in the 1980s, who experienced the wars as children or teenagers.
Chapter 1 introduces Serbia’s memoryscape as context that shapes memory activism. Fridman demonstrates that memories and memory politics related to the wars in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo cannot be discussed in isolation from other discomforting memories. These memories are rooted in the experiences of an ‘abnormal’ everyday life in Serbia in the 1990s, characterized by state violence, international sanctions and the NATO bombing, and continue to resonate today, as Fridman impressively shows. By rolling out this context, she illustrates the different roles of anti-regime and anti-war protests. Mass anti-regime protests were fuelled by widespread hope among citizens to reclaim their state institutions but did not necessarily oppose nationalist politics. Recent anti-regime protests still allude to these protests and express disappointment that thorough political change never happened after Slobodan Milošević’s overthrow on 5 October 2000 through the motif of the ‘abnormal’, the non-functional, non-democratic state order. There is less reference today to anti-war activism. This sheds light on the weak position of memory activists, who emerged from anti-war activism after 2000 and continue to demand official acknowledgement of Serbia’s responsibility for war crimes. The final part discusses state-sponsored commemorations through which Serbian national identity and a rhetoric of self-victimization, denial and revisionism are strengthened, disabling critical engagement with past injustices and empathy towards victims of war crimes.
Chapter 2 explores alternative commemorative rituals developed by first-generation memory activists as continuation of feminist anti-war activism. These activists articulated their mnemonic claims based on their living memories and transformed their feelings of guilt and responsibility into alternative commemorations as acts of acknowledgement and ‘commemorative solidarity’ (Athanasiou, 2017). Focussing on the Women in Black, Fridman argues that their slogan ‘Not in my name’ articulates their opposition to the state’s memory politics and their generational belonging. They established street actions (silent vigils) that express empathy towards victims across the region and are regularly joined by other activists and civil society groups. The most important and contested event is the Srebrenica commemoration on 10 July. By remembering Srebrenica as genocide on Belgrade’s Republic Square, from the perspective of citizens of Serbia, they created space for anti-nationalist mnemonic rituals from below.
Chapter 3 turns to younger generations of memory activists and examines continuity and change in memory activism. The author discusses the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), founded by the in-between generation and led by the second generation since the 2010s. Second-generation memory activists inherited war memories and feel responsible to uphold them. The slogan ‘Too young to remember, determined never to forget’ indicates their generational belonging and mnemonic claim. YIHR activists have learned from and aim to continue the legacy of the first generation (memory of activism). Especially Srebrenica commemorations in Belgrade reveal continuity and interconnection among the generations, but also changing practices. YIHR activists join the commemoration on 10 July, but on 11 July, they directly call on the Serbian state to confront the past in front of the National Assembly. Besides commemorations, newer mnemonic practices address marginalized memory of Kosovo-Albanian victims, especially the Suva Reka massacre and Batajnica mass grave on Belgrade’s outskirts. Fridman discusses guided tours organized by the Centre for Public History and films by Ognjen Glavonić. These initiatives are pursued by activists of the in-between generation, which grapples with the burden of silence that disables their generation to discuss unrecognized war crimes and aims to give citizens the opportunity to engage with these topics.
Chapter 4 addresses memory activism online, as innovation in mnemonic practices advanced by the second generation. Fridman introduces a ‘#hashtag #memoryactivism framework’ to studying digital memory activism and online commemorations of contested pasts. The chapter discusses how memory activists utilize hashtags on social media as mnemonic tactic to engage with disputed memories and create platforms to disseminate marginalized memories. Digital practices often complement and reinforce ongoing campaigns on-site and inspire growing regional or even transnational participation in mnemonic practices from below. For example, across the former Yugoslavia, YIHR activists confronted the public glorification of returning ICTY convicts by protesting their public appearances and rehabilitation (discussed in chapter 3). On social media, they used #NisuNašiHeroji (#NotOurHeroes) to discuss the topic of war criminals and spread their message, particularly among a younger generation that has been subject to national(istic) mnemonic socialization. This hashtag articulates a mnemonic claim of a younger generation that searches for ‘wanted memories’ of their own heroes, those who resisted war and nationalism, thereby engaging with memory of activism.
In chapter 5, Fridman opens the perspective to place memory activism in Serbia within a broader analytical context of a post-Yugoslav ‘region of memory’, providing insights into dynamics of regional memory politics. The chapter discusses the creation of platforms for regional activism, where activists (including those mentioned in previous chapters) assert agency by articulating regional mnemonic claims that transcend dominating national(istic) memory narratives and challenge the ethnicization of victims and revisionist politics of victimization. They establish cross-border ‘networks for commemorative solidarity’, thus creating a ‘region of memory activism’. Fridman situates memory activism related to the 1990s wars within the broader context of regional civic activism pursuing a critical emancipatory agenda and memory activism addressing the legacies of the anti-fascist struggle. She advocates for future research that studies regional platforms for engaging with unwanted memories of the 1990s and their interconnections in a common framework.
This book is an inspiring read for both specialized and general audiences interested in collective memory in societies emerging from violent pasts. While focused on a specific region, it offers insights into the challenging work of grassroots actors seeking to confront a difficult past across generations that may resonate with readers familiar with other societal contexts characterized by official denial and silencing of historic injustice. The author’s long-term research within the region enables her to make the societal context and significance of this memory activism comprehendible to readers, including those who may not be familiar with post-Yugoslav discourse. For example, I found her empathetic account of the influence of Serbia’s memoryscape on citizens’ everyday lives, grounded in rich observations, particularly compelling (chapter 1).
The #hashtag #memory activism framework will undoubtedly be applied and further advanced by other researchers studying digital mnemonic practices as sites of memory contestation and for research. However, it would have been helpful if the author had specified her methodological approach, which she only mentioned as social network analysis, without providing any further details about its implementation.
The author’s careful interweaving of themes and highlighting of their intersections is particularly intriguing. Most importantly, Fridman achieved this through the generational lens. She emphasizes that ‘these generations of memory activists do not act separately, but interact with and learn from one another’ (p. 28). This intergenerational connectedness enables her to explore the dynamic interplay of memory activism and memory of activism. Other aspects that run through and link the chapters include the regional dimension of civic engagement with the past from below and through onsite and online mnemonic practices on local, regional and even transnational scales. Another theme is the motif of ‘hope’, introduced to the discussion of civic engagement with traumatic memories by Rigney (2018). Hope is highlighted as a driving force in this civic action, mobilizing notions of agency rather than victimhood and creating spaces for ‘commemorative solidarity’ and empathy for victims from the ‘other side’ instead of denial and glorification of war crimes. As shown in the memory work of younger memory activists, which includes the legacy of earlier resistance as ‘wanted memories’ (p. 199), hope also connects memory activism and memory in activism.
Beyond the book, in which the notion of ‘alternative commemoration’ is made clear, it may be important to reflect on the use of the term ‘alternative’ in relation to counter-discourses about the past. While ‘alternative’ may have once been associated with left-leaning, emancipatory ideas, today, absurd notions of ‘alternative facts’ and the rise of far-right memory activism may evoke unwanted connotations that reveal its delicate nature in contexts lacking awareness about judicially established facts about war crimes.
Overall, Memory Activism and Digital Practices after Conflict provides a comprehensive account of the development of marginal but significant onsite and online memory activism in Serbia. It contributes to both memory activism and memory of activism in the post-Yugoslavia region, as well as to the growing literature on memory activism.
