Living memories and State archives

A false absence. Top civil servants and scotomisation of public archives in Lebanon

Dados Bibliográficos

ID15034501
AutoresPierre France (autor correspondente)
Ano2020
Volume22
Páginas123-135
Data de publicação2020-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoÉgypte/Monde arabe (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1110-5097 • E-ISSN: 2090-7273
EditoraOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/ema.13186
OpenAlexW4233968456
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas8

Contrary to what is often argued, public archives in Lebanon are not only abandoned or (made) unavailable by the State, through decision made at the highest level or the absence of decision in a State deprived of any clear direction. They are also, in a more practical way, held in places known only to happy fews: in the homes of former top civil servants who have become “living memories” and “bootleg archivists” of their institutions, guardians of the “possibility of a State”. Why and how these documents are to be found in such places? What are the historicity and social dynamics behind such a phenomenon? How do these people account (or not) for this situation, which could legally be considered as theft or concealment? Finally, how does the Lebanese state cope with the existence of these “wild” archives, and possibly manage its own archives located outside of itself

Civil servants · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · Sociology · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Middle East Politics and Society · Public Administration