Intergenerational Mapping and the Cultural Politics of Memory

A key objective of the paper is to rejuvenate our understanding of time. The focus is on how the knowledge and memories of times past are transmitted collectively and intergenerationally, and why this is important for children's political formation. The objective is pursued through a short philosophical discussion of time, memory and forgetting, drawing primarily on the work of Bernard Stiegler and others investigating these questions with an emphasis on contemporary technologies. The study and philosophical framing also engage a larger geo-economic and historical context in which all subjects, including children, are faced with critical challenges related to the recent development of new technologies of control; these formulate drives and/or a temporal consciousness of 'hyper' attention that renders deep attention and the formation of long-term desire increasingly difficult. In the face of this historical moment, the paper calls attention to the importance of thinking about time holistically as well as historically in terms of the intergenerational transfer and transformation of collective memory. Using material from two years of research with children, the claim is made that intergenerational education, involving the technics of mapping and writing and drawing on the archives of the past, can enable a critical relearning of history, thus laying the groundwork for imaginings of alternative futures.