Abstract Archives, collections, and databases documenting activism play vital roles in the process of fostering a sense of belonging through historical narratives and shared experiences among participants in social movements, yet knowledge about the role of archives in this context is scarce. This article is based on our work with Polish and German archivists and experts and aims to explore the contemporary social movement scene and archivists’ (and archives’) strategies for coalition building among activist group. Drawing on our research, we show that social movement archivists possess insights into the current state of alliances, revealing that such collaborations are now often difficult to establish. Furthermore, we demonstrate how archives influence alliances by (1) shaping the self-understanding of social movements and their collective memory, (2) preserving knowledge that reveals how collective forms of resistance have previously addressed (or failed to address) ideological differences and coordinated their actions, and (3) serving as spaces of dialogue and exchange. Finally, we point out that the archives are part of the process of building alliances through collaboration with one another as well as with other groups and institutions.
Kowalewski et al. (Tue,) studied this question.