Abstract
This article centres on four Colombian NGOs who focus on victims of conflict, paying particular attention to the substantial body of material which they collect and curate related to their work, their activities, and the victims that they represent, and which thus comprise a form of unofficial, grassroots archives of the Colombian conflict. The article details the process undertaken by the research team in engaging with the NGOs to examine the current state of their archives, and the problems and issues they have encountered. Firstly, we provide an overview of the context in which the four selected NGOs are working, and a summary of their main aims and missions. Subsequently, we undertake detailed analysis of the data gathered by the research team, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. We identify the main challenges that each NGO faces, and highlight the most salient points that arise regarding the collection, curation and preservation of non-official, grassroots archives. Of particular interest is the emergence of a disparity between the NGO’s initial evaluations or perceptions of the condition of their archives, and the evaluations subsequently developed through the research process, highlighting both the saliency of the project and its methodological approach, and the urgency of their need for support.
Recommended Citation
Taylor, Claire L.; Brandi, Lucia; Acosta Sánchez, Cecilia A.; and Díaz Vallejo, Marcelo
(2021)
"Archives of Human Rights and Historical Memory: An Analysis of Archival Practices ‘From Below’ in Four NGOs in Colombia,"
Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies: Vol. 8, Article 3.
Available at:
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/jcas/vol8/iss1/3
Included in
Archival Science Commons, Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, Latin American Studies Commons