This interview was conducted in English.
Find this interview and its explanatory dossier at https://www.diagrammes.fr/en/folders/the-long-spanish-civil-war-in-latin-america.
Duration: 02h17
Kirsten Weld is a historian of modern Latin America and a professor at Harvard University where she teaches Latin American history, US-Latin American relations, archival theory and historical methods. Originally from Canada, she holds a BA from McGill University and a PhD from Yale University. Her first book Paper Cadavers: The Archives of Dictatorship in Guatemala (2014), based on the archives of Guatemala’s National Police, reshaped how scholars understand the role of archives in documenting state repression and pursuing justice after conflict, received multiple international awards and established her as a leading scholar of history, memory and justice.
Weld’s research focuses on 20th-century struggles over inequality, state violence, and historical memory. At the intersection of social, political and cultural history, her work explores how historical knowledge is produced and how archives shape processes of accountability and social transformation. More broadly, she investigates the ways narratives about the past influence contemporary political conflicts and postwar reconstruction.
In this interview which took place on the 26th of March 2026 in New York, she discusses her upcoming book Ruins and Glory: The Long Spanish Civil War in Latin America, which reinterprets Latin-American history through the long afterlife of Spanish Civil War. She shows how this conflict became a lasting reference point for both left-wing and right-wing actors across the region, influencing revolutions, dictatorships and contemporary politics. Drawing on archival discoveries and intellectual history, the conversation sheds light on the enduring legacies of fascism, anti-fascism and political memory in Latin America.
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CHAPTERS:
00:00:00 – Introduction to The long Spanish civil war in Latin America
00:07:45 - (Chap.1) Supervivencia: Spain On Their Minds
00:32:19 - (Chap.2) Hispanidad: The Postcolonial Order
00:45:53 - (Chap.3) Exiles and Legacies
01:03:40 - (Chap.4) The Red Gene
01:26:50 - (Chap.5) Formative Experiences
01:47:00 - (Chap.6) Transitions, Continuities, Outbreaks
02:01:49- (Chap.7) Antifascist Practices
02:08:18 - (Chap.8) Universities in Dark Times
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Interviewed by Michel Feher and William Callison
Directed by Sam Jones and Thierry Corroyer
Produced by Vladimir Gurewich
Dossier: Clara Beccaro, Vincent Berthe, Alexandra Bucher, Thomas Gmür and Aurélie Windels
Visual Research : Sophie Liner
Music by Laz Lo, Eeryskies, Damiens Simons
Voice : Amanda Bay
Podcast production : Deborah Le Grand
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#LatinAmerica #History #SpanishCivilWar #ColdWar #PoliticalHistory #MemoryStudies #Archives #HumanRights #KirstenWeld #Harvard #Dictatorship #PostConflict #IntellectualHistory #Fascism #AntiFascism #LatinAmericanStudies
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