Remember the Russell Tribunal?

Abstract

In an attempt to illustrate the origin of, as well as the reason for, collective forgetting, Paul Connerton (2008) begins his article ‘Seven Types of Forgetting’ by emphasizing that intellectual debate on the subject has suffered immensely from the fact that we attribute negative connotations to forgetting: forgetting equals failure, failure to remember; and remembering, on the other hand, is somewhat like honouring an obligation, and therefore constitutes success. By that logic, to speak of things forgotten would mean pointing out failures; the practice would entail inherent critique of a failed memory agent who could be identified through ‘gaps’ in the narrative.

1. TRIBUNE

2. a court or forum of justice

3. something that decides or determines <the tribunal of public opinion>

(Merriam-Webster)