Memory and utopian function as interpretation keys in social studies

Abstract

The construction of social time is a ground of sociological research, however this aspect is generally overlooked or ignored as if it were a fixed frame established a priori, as if it did not constitute, by itself, an essential issue in social processes. I try to show that it is not only a constitutive element in the configuration of the symbolic and cultural order of societies; but it is also an essential aspect that also impacts the material reproduction of social life. Even more, it is a matter of a disputed terrain, insofar the ways of remembering and building collective memory and also the way of anticipating future projects and build utopias, both of them produce discourses and praxis that either maintain and reproduce the status quo, or they resist, transform or break it. Thus, I propose to explore the epistemic and heuristic richness of the categories “collective memory” and “utopian function” to interpret and explain the meaning of collective action and social change.