LAPC Migrant Detention Center and Its Carceral Heritage Essay

Historian Pierre Nora defines a lieu de mémoire (realm of memory) as “any significant entity, whether material or non-material in nature, which by dint of human will or the work of time has become a symbolic element of the memorial heritage of any community.”

Drawing inspiration from our course, choose an example of a lieu de mémoire in the context of transnational Italy. How does this place symbolize the memorial heritage of a community? Which community or communities? If and how has its symbolism changed over time? What does this specific lieu de mémoire say about the relationship between memory and history?

Here are three examples of many that you may choose:

the Pontine Marshes (Agro Pontino), its heritage of internal settler colonialism (bonifica), and the rise in nostalgia for fascism; 

the France-Italy border at the Western Alps as a site of fascist resistance and present-day migrant smuggling; 

the migrant detention center at Ponte Galeria and its carceral heritage.