Memory matters. It matters for the simple reason that memory is an anthropological given, since ‘all consciousness is mediated through it’. However, stressing this fact at the current historical juncture risks invoking a cliché, since ‘memory’, both individual and collective, lies at the intersection of so many of our current concerns and organises many of our current projects. As Ian Hacking has pointed out, memory has become ‘a powerful tool in quests for understanding, justice and knowledge’. Yet, for all the present obsession with ‘memory thinking’ (Hacking), there have been almost no studies of the nexus between memory and political power, especially if one defines politics rather narrowly as the output of political institutions.