Social Memory as a Force for Social and Economic Transformation is a comprehensive, holistic and timely publication that seeks to address the ways in which the politics of the past and the present are expressed through official processes of social memory management in contemporary societies. The book seeks to promote Freedom Park and other heritage and memory sites not just as places of memory that pay tribute to the great legends of the struggle, but also as places where their achievements and contributions can be used to address the challenges South Africa faces today. In this sense, although the book is concerned with the past, its focus is on how its interpretation in the present can contribute to radical socioeconomic transformation, going forward.

The production of this book reminds us of how Freedom Park, as a memorial infrastructure, evolved as one of the post-1994 national legacy projects to be envisioned by the first democratic President of the Republic of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, who, in his Freedom Day speech in 1999, spoke of the need to create a monument to remember all South Africans who sacrificed their lives so that we could be free. The former patron-in-chief of Freedom Park, Mandela (1999) said, “The day should not be far off, when we shall have a people's shrine, a freedom park where we shall honour with all the dignity they deserve, those who endured pain so we should experience the joy of freedom”. This was the basis on which the primary mandate of Freedom Park was established, namely to honour those who died for freedom and humanity.

As a heritage site resorting under the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), Freedom Park was established with the distinct objective of addressing the gaps, distortions and biases of the past, and providing fresh perspectives on South Africa's heritage that portray this country's story in as balanced and inclusive a way as possible. As recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Freedom Park was to continue on the path of uncovering the “truth” about what happened during the colonial and apartheid periods; specifically, to create a collective memory of the past from the African perspective—an approach that seeks to emancipate the African voice which was previously marginalised and challenges the Eurocentric ways that have, for decades, shaped ideas around national memory.