Duty of Memory

Sébastien Ledoux is a historian and senior lecturer at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne. His work focuses on the political, social, and cultural aspects of memory in contemporary societies. He is the author of several books: Le devoir de mémoire (CNRS Editions, 2016), La nation en récit (Belin Editeur, 2021), and Histoire et mémoires (CNRS Editions, 2024). In addition to this, he has edited several collected works on a variety of topics, including digital memories, memory laws, teaching, and colonial memories.

• List of FiguresAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Inventing the Origins of “Duty of Memory”Part I: Emergence (Pre-1992)Chapter 1.The Sign of a New Language of MemoryChapter 2. The “Memory of Auschwitz,” a New Reference in the PresentChapter 3. The Invention of “Memory Policy” (1980s)Part II: Proliferation (1992-1993)Chapter 4. Publicization of “Duty of Memory” as Part of a Rhetoric of Denunciation (1992)Chapter 5. “Duty of Memory” as an Official Expression (1993)Chapter 6. A Sociohistorical Analysis of the Crystallization of “Duty of Memory”Part III: Grammar (1995-2005)Chapter 7. The Memory of Holocaust as a Frame of ReferenceChapter 8. A Tool for Mobilizing Other MemoriesChapter 9. “Governance of the Past”: The Example of the Vote on “Memory Laws” (1998-2005)Part IV: Defiance (2000-2012)Chapter 10. Criticism of Scientific DiscourseChapter 11. Political DistancingChapter 12. “Duty of Memory”: A Shift to the Local LevelConclusion: Duty of Memory: A Global HistoryBibliographyIndex