About the book
This book, written during Ireland's decade of centenaries, draws on the aims of the Sireacht series to reimagine commemoration. A commemoration process that is shaped by a desire to reinvigorate the social imagination and encourage speculation on alternatives to current orthodoxies considers not only what happened in the past, but what else might conceivably have happened. By acknowledging the existence of historical alternatives at a given moment, we can access that moment's contingencies. These unrealised yet fully realisable past futures are especially numerous during periods of potent possibility; points in time when the future seems particularly open to being shaped by those living in the present. Commemoration proposes ways that we can both make the roads untaken in history visible and remember' them. It links the untaken roads of the past to sidebranching roads in the present: real possible alternatives to dominant ways of thinking and being, outlining commemorative practices that could connect these two sets of roads. The book while referring to history, literature, television drama and documentary, economics, politics, law and art is grounded in concepts and practices of land and property occupancy and usage. That said, the ideas that it explores are relevant to the broader set of struggles concerning collective welfare that impel the Sireacht series. In keeping with the series's utopianinflected subtitle, Longings for Another Ireland', the book proposes that a commemoration process which recognises that the past could have been other than it was and that it could have given rise to other possible futures can assist us in the difficult but necessary process of imagining our future as both different too and better than the here and now.
Editions of Commemoration
- Paperback
- ISBN 9781782052562
Read an Excerpt
This book, written during Ireland's decade of centenaries, draws on the aims of the Sireacht series to reimagine commemoration. A commemoration process that is shaped by a desire to reinvigorate the social imagination and encourage speculation on alternatives to current orthodoxies considers not only what happened in the past, but what else might conceivably have happened. By acknowledging the existence of historical alternatives at a given moment, we can access that moment's contingencies. These unrealised yet fully realisable past futures are especially numerous during periods of potent possibility; points in time when the future seems particularly open to being shaped by those living in the present. Commemoration proposes ways that we can both make the roads untaken in history visible and remember' them. It links the untaken roads of the past to sidebranching roads in the present: real possible alternatives to dominant ways of thinking and being, outlining commemorative practices that could connect these two sets of roads. The book while referring to history, literature, television drama and documentary, economics, politics, law and art is grounded in concepts and practices of land and property occupancy and usage. That said, the ideas that it explores are relevant to the broader set of struggles concerning collective welfare that impel the Sireacht series. In keeping with the series's utopianinflected subtitle, Longings for Another Ireland', the book proposes that a commemoration process which recognises that the past could have been other than it was and that it could have given rise to other possible futures can assist us in the difficult but necessary process of imagining our future as both different too and better than the here and now.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Commemoration about?
This book, written during Ireland's decade of centenaries, draws on the aims of the Sireacht series to reimagine commemoration. A commemoration process that is shaped by a desire to reinvigorate the social imagination and encourage speculation on alternatives to current orthodoxies considers not only what happened in the past, but what else might conceivably have happened. By acknowledging the existence of historical alternatives at a given moment, we can access that moment's contingencies. These unrealised yet fully realisable past futures are especially numerous during periods of potent possibility; points in time when the future seems particularly open to being shaped by those living in the present. Commemoration proposes ways that we can both make the roads untaken in history visible and remember' them. It links the untaken roads of the past to sidebranching roads in the present: real possible alternatives to dominant ways of thinking and being, outlining commemorative practices that could connect these two sets of roads. The book while referring to history, literature, television drama and documentary, economics, politics, law and art is grounded in concepts and practices of land and property occupancy and usage. That said, the ideas that it explores are relevant to the broader set of struggles concerning collective welfare that impel the Sireacht series. In keeping with the series's utopianinflected subtitle, Longings for Another Ireland', the book proposes that a commemoration process which recognises that the past could have been other than it was and that it could have given rise to other possible futures can assist us in the difficult but necessary process of imagining our future as both different too and better than the here and now.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Commemoration?
History and Archaeology > History > History: theory and methods
Where can I read a sample of Commemoration?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781782052562
Is Commemoration part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?
Yes it is a part of series Sireacht: Longings for another Ireland
Who is/are the Author/s of the book Commemoration?
Heather Laird
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
Commemoration is available as paperback(ISBN 9781782052562)