A great international debate

Enric Pujol argues that at the turn of the 21th century, one of the great theoretical and public debates has focused on the existing relationship between history, memory and collective identity. If in the late decades of the last century the idea of ​​an “end of history” according to Francis Fukuyama, emerged as we approached the new century, history now comes back with renewed vigour under the guise of a “collective historical memory”. This return should come as no surprise, given the fact that it is becoming increasingly clear that every society, in order to gain self-legitimization, needs a historical explanation (drawn up by scholars, but shared by a social majority). This is fundamental to remember what was done in the past, who we are and what cannot be repeated if we want to build common and viable future project.

This article forms part of issue 28-29 of the IDEES magazine, “La gestió de la immigració en l’autogovern de Catalunya”, published in print format on January/June 2006. The PDF article is available to download in Catalan below.