How the past weighs on the present: Social representations of history and their role in identity politics
Abstract
Socially shared representations of history have been important in creating, maintaining and changing a people's identity. Their management and negotiation are central to interethnic and international relations. We present a narrative framework to represent how collectively significant events become (selectively) incorporated in social representations that enable positioning of ethnic, national and supranational identities. This perspective creates diachronic (temporal) links between the functional (e.g. realistic conflict theory), social identity, and cognitive perspectives on intergroup relations. The charters embedded in these representations condition nations with similar interests to adopt different political stances in dealing with current events, and can influence the perceived stability and legitimacy of social orders. They are also instrumental in determining social identity strategies for reacting to negative social comparisons, and can influence the relationships between national and ethnic identities.
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The collective representation of history does not necessarily reflect the historical truth, but rather is a combination of historical facts with shared myths and beliefs that are essential in forming and maintaining group identity.
“The study of social representations of history indicates a growing understanding that the collective representation of history does not necessarily reflect the historical truth, but rather is a combination of historical facts with shared myths and beliefs that are essential in forming and maintaining group identity (e.g., Reicher and Hopkins, 2001; Liu and Hilton, 2005).”
From Collective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning (2018) · cites this paper as Liu and Hilton, 2005
Social representations theory suggests that the way people construe and explain historical events may have a marked impact on how they relate to the present and what they expect from the future.
“Social representations theory (Moscovici, 1988; Liu and Hilton, 2005), for instance, suggests that the way people construe and explain historical events may have a marked impact on how they relate to the present, and what they expect from the future.”
From Collective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning (2018) · cites this paper as Liu and Hilton, 2005
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References 74 · Cited by 850
- Authors
- Liu, J. H., & Hilton, D. J.
- Affiliations
- Victoria University of Wellington (NZ)
- Université de Toulouse (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Liu, James H.
- Venue
- British Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2005-12
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 537-556
- ISSN
- 0144-6665 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8309
- OpenAlex
- W2141938956
- Cited by
- 850
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 39 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 69 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 56 · 2018: 66 · 2017: 61 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 32
- FWCI
- 7.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Johns Hopkins University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Memory, History, Trauma, Identity
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Representations and Identity
- Keywords
- social representations of history, identity politics, national identity, ethnic identity, supranational identity, intergroup relations, realistic conflict theory, social identity theory, collective memory, social comparison, narrative framework
- MeSH terms
- Culture, Decision Making, History, Humans, Mass Behavior, Politics, Social Identification, Social Perception, Internationality
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