Quote by Achille Mbembe: “The archive is not simply a place of storage, but also a site of power.”

This quote reveals that historical archives are more than just neutral collections of information; they actively shape narratives and control access to knowledge. It implies that whoever controls the archive wields significant power over how history is remembered and understood.

In the late 2010s, discussions around historical revisionism, decolonization of knowledge, and the politics of memory intensified. The role of archives in shaping national and global narratives came under critical scrutiny, especially in postcolonial contexts.

Cameroonian philosopher and political theorist whose concept of 'necropolitics' — the power of the state to decide who may live and who must die — has become central to postcolonial and critical theory. He teaches at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.