Historia Reciente y Memoria

Informe Sección Historia Reciente y Memoria

Hillary Hiner

After the 2010 elections in Toronto, the Section decided to move forward on a series of initiatives that looked to expand Section membership, as the Section itself was established only a short while ago and is still consolidating its membership base and LASA image. The Section secretary created a number of digital platforms in order to communicate with members and circulate information about Section activities: a web site on the LASA site (for LASA members), a Facebook page (for LASA members and non-LASA members), and also the continued use of the Google Group created previously.

The Recent History and Memory Section has also organized two major activities since 2010. First, during 2010, the Section organized a LASA panel titled "Mapeando las fronteras de la Historia Reciente. Nuevas perspectivas sobre fuentes, conceptos y temporalidades" for the 2012 LASA Congress in San Francisco. Second, between August 2011 and May 2012, the Section also organized a Best Book in Recent History and Memory competition. The Section directory chose a three person jury for the contest, composed of Victoria Langland, Vania Markarian, and Cynthia Milton, who received many excellent submissions and narrowed down the field to seven outstanding finalists. At the Section Business Meeting in San Francisco the winners of the Best Book Prize were announced: the contest winner was Isabella Cosse, for her book Pareja, sexualidad y familia en los años sesenta and the honorable mention was Eugenia Allier, for her book, Batallas por la memoria: Los usos políticos del pasado reciente en Uruguay.

During this meeting the Section also debated ways in which to publicize Section news and recruit new members. Several options were considered, both in terms of print media and digital platforms. In addition, the Section talked about future projects, such as a Best Article in Recent History and Memory, and also the planning of the Section´s panel for LASA2013 in Washington DC.

Lastly, the Section elected new officers, choices confirmed by email consultation with our members. The officers of the Section for 2012-14 are Claudio Barrientos (Universidad Diego Portales) and Cynthia Milton (Université de Montréal), Co-chairs; Hillary Hiner (Universidad Diego Portales), Secretary; and Council Members Alejandro Cerda (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana/Xochimilco), Florencia Levín (Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento), Vania Markarian (Universidad de la República), and Rodrigo Sá Motta (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais).