ARCHIVES THAT FEEL: DECOLONIZING MEMORY THROUGH ACCESSIBILITY, AUTHORITY, AND AFFECT OF DIGITAL ARCHIVES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

Abstract

Digital archives are not neutral repositories. They are affective platforms that actively shape how the past is felt, accessed, and legitimized. This thesis examines three archives: Al Jazeera 360, the Sudan Memory Project, and the Genocide Archive of Rwanda, to understand how they navigate accessibility, institutional authority, and affective decolonization while preserving collective memory under challenging conditions. Through multimodal and thematic analysis using Google AI Studio and Atlas.ti, combined with close interpretive reading of design, metadata, and institutional frameworks, I analyze how these archives function as political and emotional ecologies. The Genocide Archive of Rwanda validates emotional testimony as legitimate knowledge and documents Gacaca courts as alternative legal frameworks that have worked for communities. Sudan Memory preserves endangered heritage through collaborative networks between international institutions and Sudanese organizations, creating harmonic documentation with Arabic as a prominent archival language. Al Jazeera 360 responds to social media restrictions on Arabic content, positioning linguistic sovereignty and visibility as resistance to platform suppression. These case studies reveal patterns in how affective decolonization operates digitally; demonstrating that accessibility, authority, and affect operate as intertwined forces, and reveal how communities reclaim authority over the emotional dimensions of their historical representation. This research proposes a comparative framework for understanding digital memory as an active, relational process. Affective decolonization emerges through strategic design, curatorial choices, and institutional positioning that center local epistemologies, validate emotional testimony, and challenge colonial knowledge hierarchies embedded in digital infrastructures.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Humanities and Social Science