Contested collective memories of migrations in Catalonia

Abstract

This prospective study examines the role of the M-Factor (Migration Factor) in the formation of a country’s collective memory. Despite the seminal contributions of memory studies to the field of identity formation, the M-Factor in nations’ historical heritage is particularly under-researched. The relationship between national identity and the collective memory of migration, and vice versa, represents a fertile area of enquiry into the formation of contested collective memories. By framing the analysis on the case study of Catalonia, a territorial community in Spain with national claims, which lacks a structured state apparatus and where 73% of the population is result of migrations in the 20th and 21st centuries, this paper provides an illustrative case study of a contested collective memories. In Catalonia there is a discrepancy between the historical reality of migration and its social and political acknowledgment. This apparent paradox presents a compelling opportunity for research that seeks to bridge the fields of collective memory studies and migration studies. The data was collected from existing documents and a sample of 18 semi-structured interviews with a variety of profiles at the meso level, allowing us to saturate the information. The subsequent analysis traversed two domains: diagnosis (the contested collective memories of migration) and normative considerations regarding the potential of a future memory politics. This research provides a basis for a future political theory that addresses intergenerational relations and shared intercultural experiences to ground an inclusive collective memory of migrations.