La réappropriation du passé politique douloureux

Taking into account the consequences of a traumatic event that happened in the political history of a given group not only requires the satisfaction of justice demands of the victims, but it also obliges the group to redefine the relation with the relevant past. Indeed, such pasts weigh heavily on the present and call for a specific treatment of the meanings that emerge from them. The concept of “memory work” elaborated by Paul Ricoeur meets this need: it overcomes straightforward disengagements from the past by holding an aspiration towards the future. In this article, we explore the political dimension of this concept.