La lid eleccionaria en el marco de los estados de guerra

RESUMEN: Este artículo aborda el tema de las elecciones en Medellín durante el periodo 1856-1880, desde la lógica de la relación entre guerra y política. Expone la hipótesis según la cual las elecciones no representaban el fin de un conflicto y la configuración de una nueva forma de acceder al poder. Por el contrario, ellas hacían parte del entramado de la guerra. El texto busca descifrar los nudos de significación alrededor de los cuales se desarrollaba la trama del lenguaje político electoral, es decir, develar a través del lenguaje político la imagen que se tenía del proceso electoral, la manera como era aludido, concebido, definido y vivido. Se trata de identificar, en la retórica política de las elecciones, las claves que permitan afirmar que ellas funcionaban bajo la lógica de la guerra.ABSTARCT:This article addresses the issue of elections in Medellin during the period 1856-1880, from the logic of the relationship between war and politics. It exposes the hypothesis according to which the elections did not represent the end of a conflict and the configuration of a new form to accede to the power. On the contrary, they were part of the framework of war. The text seeks to decipher the knots of meaning around which the plot of political electoral language was developed, that is, to reveal through political language the image one had of the electoral process, the way it was alluded to, conceived, defined and lived. It is about identifying, in the political rhetoric of the elections, the keys that allow to affirm that they functioned under the logic of war

Memories Persist in Silence

RESUMEN: Expone la hipótesis según la cual los artefactos de memoria, creados para recordar a las víctimas del conflicto armado colombiano, son una expresión de las memorias subterráneas y una forma de acción política en medio de la guerra. Se analizan tres casos de construcción de artefactos en Medellín como formas de padecer, percibir y resistir de los sujetos frente al poder de los grupos armados en la ciudad. El silencio inherente a estos objetos no debe ser entendido como ausencia de lenguaje, sino como otra forma de expresión de la memoria. El silencio es una táctica empleada para sobrellevar las pérdidas y rearmar una cotidianidad en contextos de violencia prolongada.ABSTRACT: This article exposes the hypothesis that memory artifacts, created to commemorate the victims of armed conflict in Colombia, are an expression of the underground memories and a way of political action in the midst of war. We analyze three cases of creations of memory artifacts in Medellín, Colombia, as forms of suffering, perceiving and resisting the power of armed groups in Medellín. The silence, inherent in these objects, should not be treated as an absence of language, but as another form of expression of memory. Silence is a tactic used to overcome losses and reset everyday life in contexts of protracted violence

Fireflies of the Memory. Spontaneous Altars and Narratives of Mourning in Medellin, Colombia

ABSTARCT: Our objective is to analyze the cultural actions and practices subjects use to reconstruct their memories in contexts of violence, and identify the political use of their memory as political resistance in spaces for the daily, the intimate, the familiar or the communitarian. This work is a qualitative research which used case studies because of its focus on this matter and because it addresses the significance of an experience based on systematic analysis of the same phenomenon. The techniques used to collect data were bibliographic and documentary research and in-depth interviews. We identified four experiences creating spontaneous altars in the city of Medellin, Colombia, which were a mural listing dead people, a graffiti paying homage to two dead female students, an altar to the Virgin to remember the victims of a massacre and a Calvary to bury the dead remains of a murdered son. We opted for micro-stories to comprehend the political sense of returning to everyday matters after facing violent situations. The spontaneous altars are mourning rituals in a public space created as a reply to deaths they deemed unjust. They are forms of non-institutional political actions whose aim is to highlight what happened, express people’s indignation and avoid recurrence. In the cases studied, we confirmed that in the creation of altars, they expressed a narrative of mourning which demands for the recognition of their loss

Representación y sociabilidades políticas. Medellín, 1856-1885.

RESUMEN: El artículo se cuestiona por el papel desempeñado por las Juntas Electorales durante los comicios electorales en Medellín, en el periodo 1856-1885. Plantea dos hipótesis centrales: en primer lugar, que las sociabilidades políticas, creadas durante las elecciones, eran formas organizativas configuradas sobre la base de estructuras de poder de tipo antiguo, a pesar de lo cual lograron introducir elementos modernos, pues propiciaron la configuración de un espacio público, favorecieron el debate sobre asuntos de interés general, la formación de opinión pública y la ampliación de la ciudadanía política real. En segundo lugar, que estas sociabilidades políticas se constituyeron en un primer nivel de representación política con poder de mediación y negociación entre la sociedad civil y las instituciones de representación. La intención del texto es focalizar el análisis en la manera como esas colectividades adaptaron al sistema moderno de referencia y lograron crear una mixtura entre las formas antiguas y las formas modernas de sociabilidad y representación.ABSTARCT:The article is questioned by the role played by the Electoral Boards during the electoral elections in Medellin, in the period 1856-1885. It raises two central hypotheses: first, that the political sociabilities, created during the elections, were organizational forms configured on the basis of old-type power structures, despite which they succeeded in introducing modern elements, since they propitiated the configuration of a public space, favored the debate on matters of general interest, the formation of public opinion and the expansion of real political citizenship. Secondly, that these political sociabilities were constituted in a first level of political representation with power of mediation and negotiation between the civil society and the institutions of representation. The intention of the text is to focus the analysis on the way in which these collectivities adapted to the modern reference system and managed to create a mixture between the old forms and the modern forms of sociability and representation

Political Memory and Cultural Artefacs

RESUMEN: El artículo presenta los diversos momentos en la construcción del campo de la memoria política y sus potencialidades de investigación futura. Aborda inicialmente a Maurice Halbwachs, quien piensa la memoria como un fenómeno sociológico de cohesión social. Posteriormente, analiza la memoria política como una construcción producida por el Estado en el proceso de formación de las identidades nacionales. Discute a Pierre Nora y su propuesta de los “lugares de memoria” y Benedict Anderson y su concepto de “comunidad imaginada”. En un tercer momento aborda las trasformaciones del campo de la memoria política en cuanto a la emergencia de nuevos agentes y de nuevo tipo de soportes. Concluye con observaciones sobre artefactos de la memoria política en comunidades rurales de Colombia, abordados en el artículo como formas de expresión de las memorias subterráneas.ABSTARCT:Presents the various stages in the construction of the field of political memory and its potential for future research. Initially addresses Maurice Halbwachs, who thinks of memory as a sociological phenomenon of social cohesion. Then, it analyzes the political memory as a construct produced by the State in the formation of national identities. Discuss Pierre Nora and his proposal “places of memory” and Benedict Anderson´s concept of “imagined community”. In a third stage deals with the transformations of the field of political memory as to the emergence of new actors and new types of media. It concludes with observations on political memory devices in rural communities in Colombia, raised in the article as forms of expression of the memories groundwater

A memória e a comunidade na experiência da vulnerabilidade. O mural de Santo Domingo Sávio La memoria y la comunidad en la experiencia de vulnerabilidad. El mural de Santo Domingo Sávio

This article describes the creation of a memory initiative in Medellín, Colombia: a commemorative wall with the names of the people murdered in Santo Domingo Savio’s neighborhood. Based on this description, the authors analyze the relations among the conceptions of memory, common, and community, and call into question the consequences of commemorating the murderers in the same space of the victims. Why is recognition central for the public discussion on memory? Is there a legitimate and an illegitimate way of mourning? Which lives really matter? The analysis is carried out from the results of two doctoral researches with emphasis on the concepts of community, common and identity. The article concludes that in the case of the commemorative wall of Santo Domingo Savio, what is common to this group are the feelings of loss and vulnerability in facing violence. As a result, what relates the members of this territory is less a positive identity than the recognition of their losses as well as their common dealing with finitude and death

Memoria política y artefactos culturales

Presents the various stages in the construction of the field of political memory and its potential for future research. Initially addresses Maurice Halbwachs, who thinks of memory as a sociological phenomenon of social cohesion. Then, it analyzes the political memory as a construct produced by the State in the formation of national identities. Discuss Pierre Nora and his proposal “places of memory” and Benedict Anderson´s concept of “imagined community”. In a third stage deals with the transformations of the field of political memory as to the emergence of new actors and new types of media. It concludes with observations on political memory devices in rural communities in Colombia, raised in the article as forms of expression of the memories groundwater.El artículo presenta los diversos momentos en la construcción del campo de la memoria política y sus potencialidades de investigación futura. Aborda inicialmente a Maurice Halbwachs, quien piensa la memoria como un fenómeno sociológico de cohesión social. Posteriormente, analiza la memoria política como una construcción producida por el Estado en el proceso de formación de las identidades nacionales. Discute a Pierre Nora y su propuesta de los “lugares de memoria” y Benedict Anderson y su concepto de “comunidad imaginada”. En un tercer momento aborda las trasformaciones del campo de la memoria política en cuanto a la emergencia de nuevos agentes y de nuevo tipo de soportes. Concluye con observaciones sobre artefactos de la memoria política en comunidades rurales de Colombia, abordados en el artículo como formas de expresión de las memorias subterráneas

La memoria y la comunidad en la experiencia de vulnerabilidad. El mural de Santo Domingo Sávio

RESUMEN: Este artículo aborda la creación de una iniciativa de memoria en Medellín, Colombia: un mural con los nombres de personas asesinadas en el barrio Santo Domingo Sávio. Se analiza la relación entre las concepciones de memoria, común y comunidad a partir de varias preguntas: ¿qué sucede cuando se decide recordar a los asesinos en el mismo espacio de las víctimas?, ¿por qué el reconocimiento es central en la discusión pública sobre la memoria?, ¿hay lutos legítimos y otros ilegítimos?, ¿cuáles son las vidas que cuentan? Se trata de un análisis hecho a partir de los resultados de dos investigaciones de doctorado con énfasis en los conceptos de comunidad, memoria e identidad. Se concluye que para el caso del mural en Santo Domingo Sávio lo común para ese colectivo es la pérdida y la vulnerabilidad frente a la violencia, lo que vincula a sus habitantes es menos una identidad positiva que el reconocimiento de la falta, la vulnerabilidad y enfrentarse con la finitud que los afecta a todos

Posibilidad, riesgo e incertidumbre: análisis de tendencias en las ciencias de la información

This paper presents the results of research on trends in the information sciences in the framework of the project “Curricular innovation of the undergraduate programs in Archival and Library Sciences of the Universidad de Antioquia” of the Escuela Interamericana de Bibliotecología. Social trends were analyzed to think about how political, educational, economic, and environmental factors influence the contexts in which professionals and institutions operate; trends in scientific and academic production in the field of information sciences, to investigate where research is going. Trends in information and data technologies are described, characterized by rapid changes and developments which indicate the horizons of this area of work, but which are not the sole determinant of trends. Finally, we reflect on trends in institutions, how they respond to these transformations and social and technological demands. The method implemented in the research had a mainly qualitative approach, using four research techniques: 1) analysis of social networks of scientific production; 2) consultation of press releases from multilateral organizations and institutions in the area; 3) analysis of market sources; and 4) development of in-depth interviews with specialists in the field. It is concluded that technological development and the role of information and memory professionals and institutions demand constant and abrupt changes for the adoption of new technologies. However, care must be taken; a critical and conscious position must be taken, which does not ignore the foundations of the fields of knowledge, and the social and cultural practices that professionals face

Memoria en la calle: repositorio de altares espontáneos creados en Medellín entre 1980 y 2014

In the present text it is presented the results of the research “Repositorio de altares espontáneos de memoria creados en Medellín, entre 1980 y 2014, en respuesta a la violencia asociada al conflicto armado”. Objects or artifacts such as graffiti, crosses, virgins, plaques, gardens, etc., created to preserve the memory of violent events, are understood as spontaneous shires. It is considered that these altars can generate emotional responses, because certain agency possess them. These altars prepare the ground for the memory strategies of those who face the trauma of death, and are the vehicle for the commemoration. The creation of these artifacts propitiates the scenario for the realization of public mourning rituals, in which people express feelings, but it is also a form of political action to demand recognition of the damage caused, and a way of evidencing disputes or negotiations by the senses and meanings of the past. In the research, a virtual repository that allows to map and document the materialities with which the memory of the survivors and the victims of the armed conflict in the city is expressed was created. The repository allows showing trends in the construction of artifacts, identifying their creators, motivations for their construction, uses, meanings, and resignifications of those places of memory. It is understood that these materialities are spontaneous ways of recording violent events and processes of memory and resistance. These processes led to resume the discussion about the document and the activity it reflects; about the concrete and the ephemeral; about the file and the repository