Participating in a Digital-History Project Mobilizes People for Symbolic Justice and Better Intergroup Relations Today

Abstract

Awareness of past atrocities is widely seen as critical for restoring justice and building resilient democracies. Going beyond information provision, an increasing number of memorial sites, museums, and historical archives offer opportunities for public participation. Yet little empirical evidence exists on the impact of participation in the collective remembrance of past atrocities. Two experimental studies, a field-in-the-lab study with 552 university students in Germany and an online randomized control trial with 900 digital workers in Germany, showed that participating in a large-scale, digital-history project about Nazi persecution increased peoples' collective-action intentions for further commemoration activities and for activities that strengthen intergroup relations today. These effects persisted for 2 weeks. The findings suggest that digital-history projects can motivate collective action that is critical for symbolic justice and positive intergroup relations, thus contributing to well-functioning, pluralistic democracies.