Unearthing the Truth: The Politics of Exhumations in Cyprus and Spain

Author: Kovras, Iosif

Source: History and Anthropology, Volume 19, Number 4, December 2008 , pp. 371-390(20)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Contrary to the experience of other countries with memories of clandestine violence and “missing persons”, where the mobilisation of the (civil) society towards “truth recovery” was immediate and pivotal, the societies of Cyprus and Spain remained silent for a remarkably long period of time. This article aspires to explain the reasons why both Cypriot communities and the Spanish society did not manage, until recently, to comprehensively address—not to mention resolve—the problem of “missing persons”. The recent emergence of the “politics of exhumations” in these two countries, which highlight issues related to truth recovery and collective memory, renders the attempt to respond to the question of why these processes are taking place only today even more stimulating.

Keywords: Truth Recovery; Exhumations; Historical Memory; Cyprus; Spain; Contentious Politics

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02757200802611688

Publication date: 2008-12-01

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