ABSTRACT
The stories we tell about our past bear an undeniable weight on the present and on our imagination of the future. How we represent history shapes our collective identities, frames what we believe to be possible, provides us with examples of the dangers ahead, and, more generally, teaches us about our societies. Yet, we are not prisoners of the past. On the contrary, on the basis of the literature on collective memory and its role in future imagination, I argue that present challenges and values can guide us in “reinventing” history in ways that can help create better futures for ourselves.
