Memory and Agency in Intractable Conflicts: Revisited Pasts

This article sketches an analytical framework connecting the literature on conflict transformation with understandings of the role of history and agency in conflicted societies. By focusing on the dissemination of different historical narratives, emphasis falls on endogenous processes and the interaction between inside actors to conflicts. This study moves beyond the many conflict studies with common emphasis on third party actions and their relations to elites in intractable conflicts. As history and its links to identity have been underdeveloped fields of inquiry in conflict theory, this contribution fills a substantial research gap. Moreover, the study advances understandings of agency and its connections to history and conflict. Initially, a theoretical framework is developed, aiming to increase the understanding of interrelations between historical understandings and identity change within intractable conflicts. Based on the theoretical suggestions, a case study of the Israeli debates about New History is presented. The conclusions emphasize the importance of societal criticism within conflicted societies, and the crucial role of agency in that process. This can be embodied in the work of memory agents who during certain times have the ability to challenge master narratives of identity and hence might have influence of the trajectory of conflict.