One of the most stubborn memories is conflict. Conflicts disrupt stability and leave deep physical, psychological, spiritual, and cultural scars on both the individual and the communities they belong to. In communities, these memories of conflict are perpetuated intergenerationally.
Conflicts often emerge from the ambitions and exploitation of the powerful, imposed on those with less agency. We often remember conflicts as acts of patriotic virtue—ritualized in ways that shape national and civic identity.
As part of nation or community building, centuries-old grievances are ritualized and commemorated as points of reference, civic meaning, and nurturing nationality.
The narratives of the deeply entrenched memories of the past “wounds” become the political-social order of the community and the nation. Memories of the conflict are “monumentalized” and prominently displayed in the public squares of our villages and cities. A mere retelling of past grievances keeps these wounds frequently stoked and serves as convenient political fodder. It also forces societal conversations into a binary and stifles progress toward lasting community or nation-building. It divides and fractures societal foundations and leads to the hardening of socio-political walls, which stops discourse. Conflicts have a memory that is deeply rooted. It is transgenerational, anchored in culture, continuously contaminated, distorted through erroneous historical narratives and partisan media reporting.
Conflicts should be examined from multiple perspectives, emotional, historical, political, and structural– to break free from oversimplified narratives. We must not only remember the past from the retelling by power structures, but we must expand the voices and the narratives that move with people through history in a nuanced manner. Past conflicts should not be forgotten but should not be used to hold back societal progress; they should serve as a body of knowledge or insights meant to inform. Importantly, we should study their long-term effects on social structures to inspire lasting solutions that serve all. We must rethink how conflict narratives are shaped and shared.
Developing a nuanced understanding of past conflicts while addressing their long-term implications can generate durable policies that alleviate psychological, spiritual, and cultural trauma over time. By accepting the complexity of conflict, both the harmed and the harming can begin to see and participate in concrete steps toward reconciliation. This approach to collective conflict reconciliation opens the path for individuals to rebuild trust—both within themselves and as part of a collective whole.
With these measures in place, society as a whole will be able to adopt an adaptive way of being and a continuous improvement approach to negotiating life. By accepting that life without conflict is not a natural part of existence, communities can transform conflict into a foundation for resilience and unity through deliberate efforts to acknowledge, repair, and rebuild.