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Paper long abstract:

How should we approach the commemoration of suffering? Usually, empathy and common decency suggest we partake and remain silent even if we have reservations.

At the same time, a kind of sacralization of the past carries risks for the present and future, as Micheal Rothberg, Timothy Snyder, and other authors have pointed out. This sacralization of the past can become an issue in the historiography in various locations across the region, yet scholars often lack a frame for critique.

In this paper I will propose an Ethics of Political Commemoration, based on Ius ad Memoriam and Ius in Memoria, loosely based on Just War Theory, and will illustrate how this can be applied to several aspects of commemoration in the Caucasus. One positive standout example is the Aurora Prize out of Armenia, which takes deep historical trauma as a starting point for recognizing “those who risk their lives, health or freedom to save the lives, health or freedom of others.”

The paper may also be of interest to scholars interested in commemoration in other regions, as it proposes a transferable framework with which to structure debates on memory.