Un pueblo sin memoria es un pueblo sin futuro: The Right to Memory and the Struggle for the Legal Regulation of Memory Sites in 21st Century Chile

Abstract

Over the past decades, the right to memory has gained traction among academic and public circles, which recognize the importance of remembering and commemorating the past for victims, their families, and future generations. This recognition has become especially relevant in transitioning societies like Chile, where several sectors of civil society have demanded a constitutional reform that considers the right to memory within political and legal spaces. Central to these claims is the need for sites of memory to be legally protected as they represent mechanisms integral to preserving the collective memory of the dictatorship and its human rights violations. However, while researchers in several fields have highlighted the importance of incorporating the right to memory within legal spaces, sociolegal scholars have yet to explore the need for sites of memory to be protected under the right-to-memory framework, which would ensure the protection and preservation of memory spaces in Chile. As such, this research seeks to highlight the integral role sites of memory play as symbolic reparations and memory enablers in the transitional justice process.