From dinosaurs to nuclear fallout: Multiple temporalities of scale in memory studies

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore potential avenues for the forthcoming “fourth wave” of memory studies, building upon existing theories of temporality in the field. By focusing on relative duration, particularly short-term versus long-term perspectives, it argues for the differentiation between objects of remembering, such as events and conditions, and modes of remembering, such as commemoration, legacy, and heritage. The article argues that our present moment is characterized by the proliferation of temporalities of various scales and the complex interplay between forms of memory and the scales against which it is constructed. This argument is illustrated by the different forms of the Chernobyl disaster remembering in Russia as well as Putin’s strategic use of historical analogies from the distant past. Finally, the article proposes an agenda for the politics of time, expanding the scope of the “politics of memory” to encompass the social construction of past, present, and future on different scales and their use by existing systems of power.