Canadian Business History Association – l'association Canadienne pour l'histoire des affaires
To Preserve, Present, and Engage/Préserver, présenter et engager
To Preserve, Present, and Engage/Préserver, présenter et engager
ACA 2023: Belonging - Considering archival bonds and disconnects
A sense of belonging is a fundamental human need – as the story of Anne of Green Gables, PEI’s most famous (fictional) daughter, so vividly demonstrates. As peoples of many regions, ages, faiths, genders, abilities, sexualities, racialized or ethnic backgrounds, we want to see ourselves, our stories, and our experiences reflected in the historical memory of the many environments to which we feel we belong. Archivists and archival practitioners now realize how many aspects of archival work contribute to peoples’ experiences of inclusion and exclusion in a community. Through our actions towards historical memory,people may or may not see their stories and experiences reflected, leaving them with feelings of belonging or disconnection, or at worst exclusion.
The 2023 ACA Program Team invites proposals that reflect on the theme of “Belonging” from the perspectives of archival theory and practice, related disciplines and professions, and/or diverse lived experiences of archives, records, and memory work. What does ‘belonging' or conversely, ‘not belonging’ mean to you within your archival context or experience?