1 Pre-copy edited, author-produced version accepted for publication in Stewart Motha and Honni van Rijswijk, eds., Law, Violence, Memory: Uncovering the Counter-Archive (Routledge, 2015) . Original citation: Sara Ramshaw and Paul Stapleton, ‘Un-remembering: Countering Law’s Archive. Improvisation as Social Practice’ in Stewart Motha and Honni van Rijswijk, eds., Law, Violence, Memory: Uncovering the Counter-Archive (Routledge, 2015) 50-69. (UN)REMEMBERING: COUNTERING LAW’S ARCHIVE. IMPROVISATION AS SOCIAL PRACTICE Sara Ramshaw and Paul Stapleton ‘Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.’ ~ John Cage ‘[T]he act of improvising also tells us something about ourselves and the world we share. It transforms contingency into necessity, while simultaneously reminding us of the necessity of contingency.’ ~ David Borgo A mistake made during an improvised musical performance may be aesthetically unpleasant, but is rarely lethal or dangerous. Members of the listening audience (and perhaps even the other musicians on stage) may not even notice the gaffe. A mistake in law, by contrast, can have dire consequences. Wrongly convicted persons can be imprisoned, sometimes for life. Those mistakenly freed are at liberty to commit further crimes, including violent ones. That