TY - JOUR
T1 - Bangladesh’s 'Father of the Nation' and the transnational politics of memory
T2 - Connecting cross-scale iterations of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
AU - Visser, Jacco
PY - 2019/6
Y1 - 2019/6
N2 - This article examines cross-scale iterations of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the “Father of the Nation” of Bangladesh. By documenting local, national, and international memory projects of Sheikh Mujib, the study illustrates the importance of taking seriously the different scales on which memory is institutionalized, and how iterations on different scales give shape to each other. It does so by applying a dual textual and ethnographic lens to iterations of Sheikh Mujib on three different scales. First, it analyses how the Sheikh figures in policies in Bangladesh to legitimize the present-day political order. Second, the paper reveals how these national policies are reinforced and made more meaningful through international heritage-making projects. Here, the paper investigates the inclusion of a speech given by Sheikh Mujib on 7 March 1971 in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2017. Third, the paper evaluates policy decisions made in London around the application of a bust of Sheikh Mujib by long-distance nationalists in the city, and how these need to be understood in relation to national and international projects. Building on these three cases, the paper concludes with a discussion of ethnographic material from the unveiling of the bust of Sheikh Mujib in London to reveal how transnationally intersecting and overlapping policies shape local commemorative practices. In doing so, the paper documents how local memory projects initiated by long-distance nationalists are restricted by lower-level policymaking decisions that take place outside the targeted nation state’s political framework.
AB - This article examines cross-scale iterations of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the “Father of the Nation” of Bangladesh. By documenting local, national, and international memory projects of Sheikh Mujib, the study illustrates the importance of taking seriously the different scales on which memory is institutionalized, and how iterations on different scales give shape to each other. It does so by applying a dual textual and ethnographic lens to iterations of Sheikh Mujib on three different scales. First, it analyses how the Sheikh figures in policies in Bangladesh to legitimize the present-day political order. Second, the paper reveals how these national policies are reinforced and made more meaningful through international heritage-making projects. Here, the paper investigates the inclusion of a speech given by Sheikh Mujib on 7 March 1971 in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2017. Third, the paper evaluates policy decisions made in London around the application of a bust of Sheikh Mujib by long-distance nationalists in the city, and how these need to be understood in relation to national and international projects. Building on these three cases, the paper concludes with a discussion of ethnographic material from the unveiling of the bust of Sheikh Mujib in London to reveal how transnationally intersecting and overlapping policies shape local commemorative practices. In doing so, the paper documents how local memory projects initiated by long-distance nationalists are restricted by lower-level policymaking decisions that take place outside the targeted nation state’s political framework.
KW - Bangladesh
KW - London
KW - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
KW - Transnational memory
KW - UNESCO Memory of the World Register
KW - REFLECTIONS
KW - WORLD HERITAGE
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056296953&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10767-018-9301-2
DO - 10.1007/s10767-018-9301-2
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0891-4486
VL - 32
SP - 163
EP - 179
JO - International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society
JF - International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society
IS - 2
ER -