---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Historical and public memory is not…"
description: "\"Historical and public memory is not merely on the side of domination.\" — Henry Giroux"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/171/henry-giroux-945_domination_historical-and-public-memory-is-not-mere_2854316.png"
---

#  Historical and public memory is not merely on the side of…

![“Historical and public memory is not merely on the side of domination.” quote by Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/171/henry-giroux-945_domination_historical-and-public-memory-is-not-mere_2854316.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/171/henry-giroux-945_domination_historical-and-public-memory-is-not-mere_2854316.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/171/henry-giroux-945_domination_historical-and-public-memory-is-not-mere_2854316.png)

> “Historical and public memory is not merely on the side of domination.”

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Memory is shaped by power structures, not just domination, influencing how history is recorded and remembered.

**In simple terms:** Power influences collective memory.

Key Takeaway

Question who controls history.

Themes

memory power history

Mood

critical analytical

Type

theoretical political

When to use this quote

- education
- politics
- media
- public discourse

Key Concepts

critical theory social construction

Questions to Reflect On

- Who decides which memories endure?
- How can marginalized voices be heard?

A Different Perspective

It may underplay individual agency.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Domination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/domination/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Historical Public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical-public-3816370/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Merely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-merely-1980479/) [Public Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-memory-1354554/) [Sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sides/)

## Related quotes

> [There is a need to employ public memory, critical theory, and other intellectual archives and resources to expose the crimes of those market-driven criminogenc…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/there-is-a-need-to-employ-public-memory-critical-theory-and-other/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [Even though I was away from the public eye, I was in the public memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanushree-dutta/even-though-i-was-away-from-the-public-eye-i-was-in-the-public-memory/)

[Tanushree Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanushree-dutta/)

> [Memory is merely the process of tuning into vibrations that have been left behind in space and time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kushi/memory-is-merely-the-process-of-tuning-into-vibrations-that-have-been/)

[Michio Kushi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kushi/)

> [“had long ceased to be a painful memory and become a merely distasteful one”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/had-long-ceased-to-be-a-painful-memory-and-become-a-merely/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [“What isn't remembered never happened. Memory is merely a record...you just need to rewrite that record.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoshitoshi-abe/what-isn-t-remembered-never-happened-memory-is-merely-a-record-you/)

[Yoshitoshi ABe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoshitoshi-abe/)

> [Trump is the living embodiment of the main character in the film American Psycho, a symbol of corporate domination on steroids, an out-of- control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/trump-is-the-living-embodiment-of-the-main-character-in-the-film/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [Historical memory is a potent weapon in fighting against the desert of organized forgetting and implies a rethinking of the role that artists, intellectuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/historical-memory-is-a-potent-weapon-in-fighting-against-the-desert/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [America has become amnesiac, a country in which forms of historical, political, and moral forgetting are not only willfully practiced but celebrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/america-has-become-amnesiac-a-country-in-which-forms-of-historical/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [I refer to the misunderstanding of Soviet Russia as an aggressive power, militaristically and ideologically bent upon world domination 'seeing', to quote a recent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enoch-powell/i-refer-to-the-misunderstanding-of-soviet-russia-as-an-aggressive/)

[Enoch Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enoch-powell/)

> [Whoever says State necessarily says domination, and, consequently, slavery; a State without slavery, open or concealed, is inconceivable: that is why we are enemies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/whoever-says-state-necessarily-says-domination-and-consequently/)

[Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/)

> [“World domination is just my side gig.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanjlisa-marie/world-domination-is-just-my-side-gig/)

[Tanjlisa Marie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanjlisa-marie/)

> [Suppose Vietnam could separate itself from the American dominated global system and carry out a successful social and economic development. Then that is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/suppose-vietnam-could-separate-itself-from-the-american-dominated/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [Southerners, whose ancestors a hundred years ago knew the horrors of a homeland devastated by war, are particularly determined that war shall never come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/southerners-whose-ancestors-a-hundred-years-ago-knew-the-horrors-of-a/)

[Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/)

> [“As she observed, “the first essential step on the road to total domination is to kill the juridical person in man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/as-she-observed-the-first-essential-step-on-the-road-to-total/)

[Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/)

> [The dark ages still reign over all humanity, and the depth and persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear. This Dark Ages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-dark-ages-still-reign-over-all-humanity-and-the-depth-and/)

[R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/)

## More by Henry Giroux

> [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [As politics is disconnected from its ethical and material moorings, it becomes easier to punish and imprison young people than to educate them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/as-politics-is-disconnected-from-its-ethical-and-material-moorings-it/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [What must be addressed in the most immediate sense is the threat that the emerging police state in the United States poses not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/what-must-be-addressed-in-the-most-immediate-sense-is-the-threat-that/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [Today's neoliberalism has a number of byproducts. We have massive forms of inequality developing because there are no longer any concessions. There's a war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/today-s-neoliberalism-has-a-number-of-byproducts-we-have-massive/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [At the start of the second decade of the 21st century, young people all over the world are demonstrating against a variety of issues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/at-the-start-of-the-second-decade-of-the-21st-century-young-people/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [America is at war with itself because it's basically declared war not only on any sense of democratic idealism, but it's declared war on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/america-is-at-war-with-itself-because-it-s-basically-declared-war-not/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [All too often the worst thing that can happen to the young is to depoliticize them. When that happens, not only are young people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/all-too-often-the-worst-thing-that-can-happen-to-the-young-is-to/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [The generation of youth in the early 21st century has no way of grasping if they will ever be free from the gnawing sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-generation-of-youth-in-the-early-21st-century-has-no-way-of/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [History remains an open horizon that cannot be dismissed through appeals to the end of history or end of ideology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/history-remains-an-open-horizon-that-cannot-be-dismissed-through/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [I mean, we're not talking about simply racism, we're taking about white supremacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/i-mean-we-re-not-talking-about-simply-racism-we-re-taking-about-white/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [Historical memory is a potent weapon in fighting against the desert of organized forgetting and implies a rethinking of the role that artists, intellectuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/historical-memory-is-a-potent-weapon-in-fighting-against-the-desert/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [The fight for education and justice is inseparable from the struggle for economic equality, human dignity and security, and the challenge of developing American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-fight-for-education-and-justice-is-inseparable-from-the-struggle/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [If the ongoing struggles waged by young people are to matter, demonstrations and protests must give way to more sustainable organizations that develop alternative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/if-the-ongoing-struggles-waged-by-young-people-are-to-matter/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [Many conservatives see higher education as a threat to their reactionary and corporate oriented interests and would like to defund higher education, privatize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/many-conservatives-see-higher-education-as-a-threat-to-their/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [Everyone is now a customer or client, and every relationship is ultimately judged in bottom-line, cost-effective terms. Freedom is no longer about equality, social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/everyone-is-now-a-customer-or-client-and-every-relationship-is/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

[Explore all 323 Henry Giroux quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

## More Domination quotes

> [The dark ages still reign over all humanity, and the depth and persistence of this domination are only now becoming clear. This Dark Ages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-dark-ages-still-reign-over-all-humanity-and-the-depth-and/)

[R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/)

> [Whoever says State necessarily says domination, and, consequently, slavery; a State without slavery, open or concealed, is inconceivable: that is why we are enemies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/whoever-says-state-necessarily-says-domination-and-consequently/)

[Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/)

> [“World domination is just my side gig.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanjlisa-marie/world-domination-is-just-my-side-gig/)

[Tanjlisa Marie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanjlisa-marie/)

> [Suppose Vietnam could separate itself from the American dominated global system and carry out a successful social and economic development. Then that is very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/suppose-vietnam-could-separate-itself-from-the-american-dominated/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [Southerners, whose ancestors a hundred years ago knew the horrors of a homeland devastated by war, are particularly determined that war shall never come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/southerners-whose-ancestors-a-hundred-years-ago-knew-the-horrors-of-a/)

[Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/)

> [I refer to the misunderstanding of Soviet Russia as an aggressive power, militaristically and ideologically bent upon world domination 'seeing', to quote a recent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enoch-powell/i-refer-to-the-misunderstanding-of-soviet-russia-as-an-aggressive/)

[Enoch Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enoch-powell/)

> [“As she observed, “the first essential step on the road to total domination is to kill the juridical person in man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/as-she-observed-the-first-essential-step-on-the-road-to-total/)

[Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/)

> [The day came. The wrath descended. Sin, guilt, and retribution? The manic psychoses of those entities we referred to as states, institutions, systems -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/the-day-came-the-wrath-descended-sin-guilt-and-retribution-the-manic/)

[Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/)

> [“…the excitement of doing something for the first time had passed. I laid there in the back seat looking at the moon. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hinton/the-excitement-of-doing-something-for-the-first-time-had-passed-i/)

[Karen Hinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hinton/)

> [“People are always busy in trying to manipulate and dominate others!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-aziz/people-are-always-busy-in-trying-to-manipulate-and-dominate-others/)

[Salman Aziz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-aziz/)

> [“World domination by 2020!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-a-garcia/world-domination-by-2020/)

[S.A. Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-a-garcia/)

> [The New World Order is a more palatable name for the Anglo American world empire. It's the planetary domination of London, New York, Washington…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-jones/the-new-world-order-is-a-more-palatable-name-for-the-anglo-american/)

[Alex Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-jones/)

> [“Manipulation. Domination. Control. These are the three watchwords of violent serial offenders.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-e-douglas/manipulation-domination-control-these-are-the-three-watchwords-of/)

[John E. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-e-douglas/)

> [The 1898 annexation of the Hawaiian Islands merely formally recognized what had long been American domination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/the-1898-annexation-of-the-hawaiian-islands-merely-formally/)

[Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/)

> [Each time we arrive at a new level in extricating ourselves from economic, social, spiritual domination, we have a moment when we dance in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-belafonte/each-time-we-arrive-at-a-new-level-in-extricating-ourselves-from/)

[Harry Belafonte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-belafonte/)

[Browse all 506 Domination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/domination/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Historical and public memory is not merely on the side of domination.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Henry Giroux"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/historical-and-public-memory-is-not-merely-on-the-side-of-domination/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Domination"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/historical-and-public-memory-is-not-merely-on-the-side-of-domination/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/171/henry-giroux-945_domination_historical-and-public-memory-is-not-mere_2854316.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/171/henry-giroux-945_domination_historical-and-public-memory-is-not-mere_2854316.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/171/henry-giroux-945_domination_historical-and-public-memory-is-not-mere_2854316.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Historical and public memory is not merely on the side of domination.” — Henry Giroux",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Henry Giroux",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Historical and public memory is not...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/historical-and-public-memory-is-not-merely-on-the-side-of-domination/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/historical-and-public-memory-is-not-merely-on-the-side-of-domination/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
