Sovereignty and Nationalism in Contemporary Iraq through the Memory of the 1991 Uprising

Abstract

As elsewhere in the world, notions of nationalism and sovereignty remain highly influential in the post-2003 Iraqi political landscape. These ideas are articulated and negotiated through historical memories, which are essential tools for political mobilization in contemporary Iraq. Due to the absence of institutional frameworks capable of facilitating investigations of recent historical events such as the Iran-Iraq War and the 1991 uprisings that would be credible and acceptable to all parts of the Iraqi population, collective memory in Iraq remains fragmented. Crucial basic facts have yet to be established. For instance, the limited finances and unstable security environment in Iraq still slow down forensic efforts to map all mass graves and identify the remains. In contemporary Iraq, debates about the Iraqi nation, sovereignty, and other matters of policy are often framed through the memory of the 1991 uprising. This sect-coded conflict was an expression of collective political will that is remembered in contemporary Iraq as part of a national struggle for sovereignty and freedom, at least among my interviewees in the southern part of Iraq, where support for the uprising was strong. More research is needed to determine whether the memory of 1991 has gained similar significance for contemporary debates in the western provinces of Iraq, and to what degree interpretations of these events vary or overlap with those discussed in this essay. Linking the memory of resistance against the Bàthist regime with contemporary struggles is a phenomenon that has also been observed in the Kurdistan region.40 It remains to be seen whether a bridging narrative regarding Iraq's recent past will eventually evolve out of various strands of collective memory.