Politics of the Slow: Rupture, Continuity and Multiscalarity

This chapter explores the slow memory of politics and the politics of the slow. It shifts attention from moments of rupture to the slow, continuous processes through which the past persists in political, social, and spatial practices. It examines how continuity and resisting acceleration can both sustain regressive traditions and enable critical reflection and repair. Drawing on examples that include post-socialist and post-colonial contexts, as well as urban and commemorative realms such as International Women’s Day, the chapter develops a multiscalar perspective that connects domestic, urban, national, and transnational realms of remembrance. It argues that slowing down memory work—through participatory, spatial, and decolonial practices—reveals hidden continuities of power and opens pathways toward more inclusive, resonant futures. By foregrounding slowness as both an analytical lens and a political practice, the chapter situates memory as a dynamic process of continuity, contestation, and transformation across time and space.