Psychological perspectives on collective memory and national identity: The Belgian case

The formation and maintenance of a collective memory depends the psychological efficacy of societal practices. This efficacy builds on the strengths and weakness of human memory. We view the articles in this special issue through a psychological lens in order to explore how the efficacy of the actions of the distinctive linguistic communities in Belgium have preserved some aspects of their past and left other aspects forgotten. We highlight four ways the psychology of individual memory can bear on the formation and maintenance of collective memories: the efficiency of actions, the presence of inaction, the relevancy of the personal past, and ‘presentism’.