Social memory is the academic concept and research field investigating how groups, communities, and societies collectively remember, construct, and transmit understandings of the past. It examines the socio-cultural processes, institutions, and practices through which shared representations of history are formed, negotiated, and contested, highlighting their role in shaping collective identity, social cohesion, and power relations. This concept is significant for analyzing how the past is utilized and transformed in the present across diverse social contexts.