Public forgiveness in post-conflict contexts
By: edited by Bas van Stokkom, Neelke Doorn, Paul van Tongeren
Series: Series on transitional justice -- 10; Series on transitional justice -- 10.
Publisher: Intersentia; Distribution for the USA and Canada, International Specialized Book Services
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge; Portland, OR
Language: eng
Number of pages: 262
ISBN-13: 9781780680446
Subjects: Human rights; Transitional justice; Truth commissions; Congresses
Description: "There seems to be a pervasive trend towards public apologies, forms of national introspection and appeals to grant forgiveness. Archbishop Tutu's motto that 'there is no future without forgiveness' is well known. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission has become an important model and source of inspiration for many other countries that want to deal with their past grievances and internal conflicts. This book discusses the role of forgiveness within processes of peace building and transitional justice. Does 'forgiveness' enable a public or political use of the term? Is it possible to forgive on behalf of others, and if so, under what conditions? These conceptual questions are related to reflections on the cultural and religious contexts of expressing forgiveness. Do forgiving words promote a willingness to look ahead and prevent a relapse into conflicting views on the poisonous past? Or do they bring along aversion? Maybe the 'push' towards forgiveness is experienced as highly unfair"--Back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Public forgiveness : theoretical and practical perspectives / Bas van Stokkom, Neelke Doorn and Paul van Tongeren; title: Public forgiveness : a modest defence / Trudy Govier; title: The philosophical controversy over political forgiveness / Alice MacLachlan; title: Forgetting, remembering forgiving, and the mundane legal order / Wouter Veraart; title: Time beyond time : time before time : comments on Ricoeur / Bert van Roermund; title: A question of forgiving words / Erik Doxtader; title: Sympathy and inseparability / Nir Eisikovits; title: Political forgiveness, promise, and the "understanding heart" in Hannah Arendt's theory / Catherine Guisan; title: Victimhood, truth recovery, and public forgiveness in Northern Ireland : some interdisciplinary reflections / Margaret E. Smith; title: Forums of apology and forgiveness / Sanderijn Cels; title: Public reconciliation at the South African TRC : the impact of the victim hearings / Annelies Verdoolaege; title: Should Christian contributions to transitional justice focus on reconciliation? Learning from El Salvador / Stephen J. Pope; title: Public forgiveness at the boundary of the secular and the religious. How do we read the terrain? / Robert Schreiter.