Institutional Memory as Community Safeguard
Jay Taber
Volume 7, Number 1 (2025) 7 (1): 62-74
Keywords Institutional Memory, Community Safeguard, Narratives, Cultural Preservation, Conflict Prevention, Balkans, Social Conflict, Tohono O'odham Nation, Border Militarization, Role of Storytelling in Community Resilience, Impact of Historical Memory on Conflict Resolution, Impact of U.S. Border Policies, Indigenous Cultural Practices
Abstract
This article examines institutional memory's role in Balkan conflict prevention, showing how narratives preserve community ethics and historical patterns to anticipate threats. This storytelling approach links past experiences to present challenges, building cohesive futures through shared understanding. It also analyzes U.S. border militarization's impact on the Tohono O'odham Nation, documenting systemic harassment by federal agents that restricts ancestral movement and erodes cultural practices. Personal testimonies reveal how border policies violate indigenous sovereignty while broader militarization undermines tribal traditions. The piece converges on cultural preservation as fundamental: narrative memory safeguards Balkan social cohesion, while defending Tohono O'odham land rights exposes the ethical failures of security frameworks that prioritize enforcement over human dignity.
Jay Taber
Published August 13, 2025
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jay Taber (Author)
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
The Fourth World Journal (FWJ) is an open-access, peer-reviewed international journal published by the Center for World Indigenous Studies, USA. FWJ is a platform for international scholars and activists, and political and cultural leaders.
Submissions
