Memories before the State

“Engaging, accessible and captivating, Memories before the State draws a compelling and textured portrait of the politics involved in the construction of a national museum of memory and presents a nuanced examination of how memory is influenced by global discourses and local forces.”

"Focusing primarily on Peru’s single national museum dedicated to memory of the internal conflict, Feldman offers an analysis of contemporary memory politics in state-sanctioned spaces. His insights speak to wider debates on memorial museums globally."

"A welcome contribution to memory studies. Feldman documents how liberal elites curate an official story of Peru’s internal conflict (1980-2000), framing what they believe their country needs to cope with legacies of mass violence."

"New Books Network - New Books in Latin American Studies" interview with Joseph P. Feldman

"Memories before the State is a valuable contribution to memory studies, and it will be beneficial for students and practitioners with interests in museums, human rights, and recent memory politics in Peru and beyond." 

“As I read, I was captivated by Feldman’s compelling and detailed narrative. He takes the reader on a journey that complicates easy assumptions about the transformative potential of memory museums by showing us how, in multiple ways, they are embedded in institutional and political realities that often perpetuate social hierarchies and colonial histories that undergird the violence being memorialized in the first place.”

"Memories Before the State is an important contribution to literature on memory and the state, as well as to post-conflict memory studies in Peru and Latin America. Its insight on how memory is shaped by institutions, and perhaps more importantly how institutions are shaped by memory, should prove useful to educators and museum practitioners, as well of course to scholars, in the decades to come."