Emilio Silva Barrera is a Spanish sociologist, journalist, and activist for the recuperation of historical memory. Additionally, he is one of the founders and president of the Association for the Recuperation of Historical Memory (ARHM). He is also a professor at New York University Madrid.

The Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (Asociation for the Recovery of Historical Memory) was born in 2000, after the discovery of a common burial ground in Priaranza del Bierzo, where the remains of thirteen civilian Republicans who were assassinated in 1936 lie. The ARMH emerged to help families find their disappeared family members. Ever since then, with the collaboration of many, they have recovered the remains of loved ones and have given answers to hundreds of families about the fate of their relatives. This effort is especially important in Spain, where the post-Franco democratic transition was based on forgetting: the Amnesty Law of 1977 protected the perpetrators of crimes against humanity committed before 1976.  Since the year 2000, the ARHM has worked to honor the past in search of justice for those who deserve it and to deepen democracy in Spain.   Their labor is essential to give voice to victims of the past and promote historical memory as a pillar of democratic society.

Emilio led the Global Spains provocatorio on historical memory during the Global Spains Workshop on Conviviality and Acompaniment Praxis.