Memory, Edited

An exploration of historical memory and networks of meaning in the context of today’s crises of extremism and polarization.

As authoritarianism continues to rise around the world, the stories we tell ourselves about what has happened and what is happening become ever more relevant. In Memory, Edited, Abby Smith Rumsey examines collective memory, how it binds us, and how it can be used by bad actors to manipulate us. Bringing forward the voices of a rich cast of Eastern European artists from the past two hundred years—from Fyodor Dostoevsky to Gerhard Richter—Rumsey shows how their work and lives illustrate the devastation wrought by regimes dependent on entrenched lies to survive. This hijacking of the narrative polarizes communities even as it commandeers our future.

Through an interdisciplinary lens that includes the best thinking from history, the arts, cognitive science, psychology, and political philosophy, Rumsey lays bare our narratives, showing how they are constructed and how they have changed over time. Ever-aware of resisting the false promise of utopia, Rumsey argues that only by confronting the past and reckoning with the crimes that were committed can we ever hope to heal and gain self-knowledge. Memory, Edited is an indispensable text for anyone who cares about democracy, equality, and freedom in our current age of crisis.1 Making the Past Make Sense 1
2 The Work of Memory 15
3 Self and Society 47
4 History as Judge, Jury, and Executioner 71
5 The Tyranny of History 93
6 Final Things are for Children 111
7 The Afterlives of the Past 131
8 Prey to Chance 149
9 Radical Reality 163
10 The Free and Indispensable Work 193
Acknowledgments 203
Notes 205
Bibliography 223
Image Credits 235
Index 239“This riveting book has clear implications for how we arrive at our current states of belief. An extraordinarily suggestive book, it must be widely read.”
—John Seely Brown, former Chief Scientist, Xerox Corporation; former Director, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
 
“In a virtuosic tour of art, literature, and neuroscience, Rumsey reveals how collective memory shapes political beliefs and actions. She brilliantly critiques ‘cancel culture’ while embracing nuanced realities of a shared past.”
—Margaret Levi, Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

 
“In this powerful, beautifully written and imaginative book, Abby Rumsey draws together history, literature, art and philosophy to explain why closed and deterministic loops between past and future are so dangerous, and to call for an open-ended understanding of possibilities instead.”
—Henry Farrell, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute Professor of International Affairs, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International StudiesAbby Smith Rumsey is an intellectual and cultural historian. She chairs the board of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and is the author of When We Are No More: How Digital Memory Is Shaping Our Future.