Books by Radhika Hettiarachchi
We are Present: Women’s Histories of Conflict, Courage and Survival, 2022
We are Present: Women’s Histories of Conflict, Courage and Survival is a collection of women’s ex... more We are Present: Women’s Histories of Conflict, Courage and Survival is a collection of women’s experiences of conflict and its impact in Sri Lanka. The narratives, self-written through visual story-telling methodologies, are interspersed with essays by women writers. The book shines a light on the historical threads that tie women’s war experiences to the contemporary challenges women face in post-war Sri Lanka – experiences and challenges that will resonate with many communities throughout the world. In doing so, We Are Present serves as a tool for public discourse on why women’s histories matter and why they must occupy a nexus between history, memorialization, and justice, particularly for those transitioning from a context of war to peace.
Papers by Radhika Hettiarachchi
Memory studies, Jun 1, 2024
International public history, Dec 7, 2023
International public history, Dec 18, 2020
This special issue explores the intersection between transitional justice and public history. It ... more This special issue explores the intersection between transitional justice and public history. It presents some of the key claims, concerns, and debates within the field. As a key component of the “reparations pillar” within the transitional justice milieu, critiques of the concept of memorialization as public history are reviewed from both academia and field examples. Particular attention is paid to current debates within the field on truth-telling, erasure, revisionism, and manipulation of historical narratives to legitimize emerging political ideologies in transitional settings. While previous edited special sections of the journal may have provided more rigorous theorizations of public history as a discipline, this issue focuses on a critical conceptual examination of where public history collides with reconciliation, reparation, peacebuilding, and justice issues. It includes contributions on the praxis of localized processes of memorialization, historical revisionism, personal and political experiences, and populist ideologies, in order to explore more clearly the use of public history in contexts currently identified with “transitional justice.”
International Public History Journal, 2020
This special issue explores the intersection between transitional justice and public history. It ... more This special issue explores the intersection between transitional justice and public history. It presents some of the key claims, concerns, and debates within the field. As a key component of the "reparations pillar" within the transitional justice milieu, critiques of the concept of memorialization as public history are reviewed from both academia and field examples. Particular attention is paid to current debates within the field on truth-telling, erasure, revisionism, and manipulation of historical narratives to legitimize emerging political ideologies in transitional settings. While previous edited special sections of the journal may have provided more rigorous theorizations of public history as a discipline, this issue focuses on a critical conceptual examination of where public history collides with reconciliation, reparation, peacebuilding, and justice issues. It includes contributions on the praxis of localized processes of memorialization, historical revisionism, personal and political experiences, and populist ideologies, in order to explore more clearly the use of public history in contexts currently identified with "transitional justice."
International Public History, 2020
This special issue explores the intersection between transitional justice and public history. It ... more This special issue explores the intersection between transitional justice and public history. It presents some of the key claims, concerns, and debates within the field. As a key component of the “reparations pillar” within the transitional justice milieu, critiques of the concept of memorialization as public history are reviewed from both academia and field examples. Particular attention is paid to current debates within the field on truth-telling, erasure, revisionism, and manipulation of historical narratives to legitimize emerging political ideologies in transitional settings. While previous edited special sections of the journal may have provided more rigorous theorizations of public history as a discipline, this issue focuses on a critical conceptual examination of where public history collides with reconciliation, reparation, peacebuilding, and justice issues. It includes contributions on the praxis of localized processes of memorialization, historical revisionism, personal a...
Postwar memorialisation and its uses-Memorialisation-which is broadly seen as a publicly acknowle... more Postwar memorialisation and its uses-Memorialisation-which is broadly seen as a publicly acknowledged, and publicly performed exercise of remembrance that is different in scope to a private remembrance-is a key consideration in postwar reconciliation and transitional justice. "Memory is subjective and fluid as it examines, reinterprets, and addresses the issues of the past, thereby helping the formation of new identities"1. The act of memorializing in itself is "as much about shaping the future as it is about recollecting the past2." If we, as a country, are serious about creating a Sri Lankan identity that is unified yet infused with cultural, religious, ethnic, social and political pluralism, then an adequately diverse memorialisation process is key consideration in the process of transitional justice. In the context of healing, the act of telling, for all sides of a conflict, is an important step in the process of reconciliation, building understanding and empathy for the other and non-recurrence of violence. Many personal 'truths' exist and they need to be shared. Creating the space for individuals and groups to be able to remember their version of the 'truth' as lived experience, allow the narrators to feel that they are acknowledged, counted and remembered. In our own history, a lack of such processes in the 80s, 90s may have contributed to the resurgence of deep-rooted causes of conflict and violence. Judging by our history, therefore, it is abundantly clear that just and sustainable peace is not possible if the psychological effects of violence and war, as well as the root causes of conflicts, are not adequately dealt with, discussed and acknowledged. The psychosocial benefits of externalising ones memories, deep-rooted pain or pride, long-held feelings of disenfranchisement or
Conference Presentations by Radhika Hettiarachchi
Drexel Law Review Volumn 11: 859, 2019
In this paper, I will examine the experience of “practicing” memorialisation within a decade of t... more In this paper, I will examine the experience of “practicing” memorialisation within a decade of the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka. My focus will be on the Herstories Project (2012) and CommunityMemorialisation Project (2015), which were two memory initiatives I co-founded. The Herstories project was focused solely on feminizing narratives of war through visual and verbal story-telling methodologies in reaction to the masculine lens with
which was prevalent in the post-war construction of history and nation-building. The second broadened its scope to people-to-people dialogue through story-telling, facilitating opportunities for interaction across the ethno-political and geographical barriers fractured by war. The article presents a practitioner's perspective, critically engaging with the
experiences and lessons learned in the implementation of the work, examining some of the conceptual and practical questions that emerged from developing “structured” memory initiatives. Some of these questions are in relation to transitional justice outcomes such as truth-seeking and non-recurrence of violent conflict by dealing with uncomfortable histories and traumatic memory for presumably 'social generative' purposes of healing, peacebuilding and justice. Does it romanticise the local? Does it result in a nuanced sense of justice?
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Books by Radhika Hettiarachchi
Papers by Radhika Hettiarachchi
Conference Presentations by Radhika Hettiarachchi
which was prevalent in the post-war construction of history and nation-building. The second broadened its scope to people-to-people dialogue through story-telling, facilitating opportunities for interaction across the ethno-political and geographical barriers fractured by war. The article presents a practitioner's perspective, critically engaging with the
experiences and lessons learned in the implementation of the work, examining some of the conceptual and practical questions that emerged from developing “structured” memory initiatives. Some of these questions are in relation to transitional justice outcomes such as truth-seeking and non-recurrence of violent conflict by dealing with uncomfortable histories and traumatic memory for presumably 'social generative' purposes of healing, peacebuilding and justice. Does it romanticise the local? Does it result in a nuanced sense of justice?
which was prevalent in the post-war construction of history and nation-building. The second broadened its scope to people-to-people dialogue through story-telling, facilitating opportunities for interaction across the ethno-political and geographical barriers fractured by war. The article presents a practitioner's perspective, critically engaging with the
experiences and lessons learned in the implementation of the work, examining some of the conceptual and practical questions that emerged from developing “structured” memory initiatives. Some of these questions are in relation to transitional justice outcomes such as truth-seeking and non-recurrence of violent conflict by dealing with uncomfortable histories and traumatic memory for presumably 'social generative' purposes of healing, peacebuilding and justice. Does it romanticise the local? Does it result in a nuanced sense of justice?