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APM – Archeologia Postmedievale, 27, 2023. Contemporary Archaeology, politics of memory and local communities: a tricky mixture?

di Anna Maria Stagno

APM – Archeologia Postmedievale, 27, 2023. Contemporary Archaeology, politics of memory and local communities: a tricky mixture? (Genova, November 28th-29th 2022) This special issue is the result of a workshop held at the University of Genoa in November 2022 and organized by the Laboratorio di Archeologia e Storia Ambientale (LASA) in the context of a project devoted to the archaeological transformation of the rural world during the late 19th and the 20th c. In the framework of post-medieval archaeologies, during the last two decades the study of the contemporary era emerged as an original field of research. Among the multiple topics tackled in the archaeological study of the contemporary era, the abovementioned relationship and its consequences for the archaeology of the contemporary era seemed a neglected topic and one which, we thought, deserved particular reflection. Moreover, the emotional proximity of the events analyzed by contemporary archaeology and its material dimension makes it an ideal arena for a reflection on the process of formation of local identities and historical narratives which may stimulate original debates and heritage concerns. This is, for us, one of the bets of the archaeologies which address this period, that is, that the proximity of time makes it easier to establish a lively dialogue with contemporary society, stressing participation and the public dimension of archaeology. Thus, the fundamental topic developed in the present special issue is the entanglements between the archaeology of the contemporary era, the politics of memory they foster and the local communities in which both are contextualized.