Memorial politics

Challenging the dominant party's narrative in Namibia

Bibliographic Data

ID4252425
AuthorsElke Zuern (Sarah Lawrence College, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume50
Issue3
Pages493-518
Publication date2012-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Modern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-278X • E-ISSN: 1469-7777
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022278x12000225
OpenAlexW2156703695
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited22

Greater international attention to human rights, particularly genocide, has offered activists opportunities to draw on transnational networks and norms. Many examples have been documented of the varying successes of domestic movement organisations employing international support. Much less attention has been paid to cases lacking significant organisations, but small groups and even individuals can draw attention to their demands if they effectively engage transnational interest. Genocide offers a particularly potent means of generating attention. Namibia is engaged in domestic debates over crimes committed by German forces over a century ago. In a country with no large opposition party and no significant social movement mobilisation, a number of relatively small groups of activists are indirectly challenging the power of the dominant party by correcting its one-sided narrative of the country's anti-colonial heroes. German efforts to respond to crimes committed in the past offer further opportunities for activists to draw attention to heroes and histories beyond those celebrated by the dominant party

Criminology · Genocide · German · Human rights · Media studies · Narrative · Opposition (politics) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Sociology · Gender Studies · German Colonialism and Identity Studies · History · Law

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