Living memories and State archives

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

Bibliographic Data

ID15034501
AuthorsPierre France (corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume22
Pages123-135
Publication date2020-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueÉgypte/Monde arabe (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1110-5097 • E-ISSN: 2090-7273
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/ema.13186
OpenAlexW4233968456
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited8

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