Marcos, Martial Law, and the Complexities of Memory in the Philippines examines the complex role of memory in the climax of the Marcos resurgence in 2022.
This comprehensive volume features eleven empirical chapters analyzing diverse sites where memories of dictatorship are constructed and contested: war memorials embedding fabricated heroism, museums preserving counter-narratives, textbooks sanitizing authoritarian violence, and social media platforms circulating nostalgic mythologies.The collection explores memory as a dynamic battlefield across four dimensions: its active social nature, material and institutional grounding, circulation across communities and digital transformation patterns, and the power relations determining which narratives achieve prominence. Contributors include emerging and established historians, heritage practitioners, sociologists, political scientists, and media scholars who conducted extensive fieldwork, archival research, and digital ethnography across the Philippines.
Offering vital analytical tools for understanding authoritarian nostalgia, an explanation as to why documented atrocities fail to prevent political rehabilitation, and how digital platforms transform collective memory, this book provides actionable insights for strengthening democratic memory work globally. The book will serve scholars and students in Southeast Asian studies, memory studies, political science, and media studies, while engaging policymakers, educators, and civil society advocates.