Taking wrongs seriously : apologies and reconciliation / edited by Elazar Barkan, Alexander Karn.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Barkan, Elazar.

Karn, Alexander.

Series:

Cultural sitings

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Interpersonal relations.

Apologizing--Social aspects.

Apologizing.

Reconciliation--Social aspects.

Reconciliation.

Social aspects.

Physical Description:

xvi, 335 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2006.

Summary:

Since the end of the Cold War, and particularly during the last fifteen years, the human need to amend immoral wrongs has been expressed in political discourse as a propensity to apologize for acts of past injustice. Can apology, by bringing closure to conflicts and by opening new possibilities for communication and mutual understanding, cultivate reconciliation and ameliorate the present? Taking Wrongs Seriously examines the increasingly potent role of apology as a social force. Contributors explore in a comparative and inter-disciplinary framework the role and function-as well as the limitations-that apology has in promoting dialogue, tolerance, and cooperation between groups confronting one another over past injustices. Fourteen essays draw on a variety of disciplines-including history, international relations, transition studies, sociology, legal studies, psychology, and religion-to explore the real and symbolic transactions that lie at the core of apology. There is no similar introductory text on this subject that includes multiple disciplinary perspectives as well as such a wide geographical and historical spectrum of case studies.

Contents:

Group apology as an ethical imperative / Elazar Barkan and Alexander Karn

Apology, truth commissions, and intrastate conflict / Robert I. Rotberg

Punishment, reconciliation, and democratic deliberation / David A. Crocker

Forgive and not forget: reconciliation between forgiveness and resentment / Daniel Levy and Natan Sznaider

The transitional apology / Ruti Teitel

What some monuments tell us about mourning and forgiveness / Vamik D. Volkan

Apologies and reconciliation: Middle Eastern rituals / George Emile Irani

The apology in Australia: re-covenanting the national imaginary / Danielle Celermajer

The BIA's apology to native Americans: an essay on collective memory and collective conscience / Rebecca Tsosie

The new patriotism and apology for slavery / Roy L. Brooks

The Tulsa race riot commission, apology, and reparation: understanding the functions and limitations of a historical truth commission / Alfred L. Brophy

The apology moment: Vichy memories in 1990s France / Julie Fette

Justice, apology, reconciliation, and the German Foundation: "remembrance, responsibility, and the future" / J. D. Bindenagel

The worst is yet to come: Abu Ghraib and the politics of no apologizing / Elazar Barkan.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0804752249

0804752257

OCLC:

61864074