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1
Schaap, Andrew. "Political reconciliation." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/27349.
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In this study in political theory I develop a political conception of reconciliation. In the late twentieth century, the notion of reconciliation became prominent in the political discourse of many polities divided by grave state wrongs. Reconciliation is an inherently political aspiration since it is oriented to the constitution of a “we” to underwrite the legitimacy of shared public institutions. Yet the logic of reconciliation, which tends toward harmony and closure, also seems at odds with politics, which invariably entails plurality and conflict. The work of Carl Schmitt provides a point of departure for considering the political nature of reconciliation and defining the problem of how a relation of enmity might be transformed into one of civic friendship. In the first half of the thesis I examine the liberal ideal of toleration (articulated by John Locke) and the communitarian ideal of recognition (articulated by Charles Taylor) as political ethics that might animate reconciliation. Against toleration and recognition, I turn to Hannah Arendt’s ethic of worldliness to develop a theory of political reconciliation. Reconciliation, on this account, entails a difficult mode of interaction between former enemies that seeks to enclose both within a common horizon of understanding while affirming the possibility of calling any such shared horizon into question. In the second half of the thesis, I draw on an interdisciplinary literature concerning transitional justice to develop this theory of political reconciliation. Here I examine the implications of an Arendtian account of the political for how we should think about four key issues confronting societies divided by past wrongs: the constitution of a political association that might accommodate former enemies; political grounds for forgiveness; the collective responsibility of those implicated in state wrongs and; coming to terms with the past through remembrance of past wrongs. Two central arguments recur throughout the thesis. First, we should affirm reconciliation as a project that opens a space for politics by framing an encounter between enemies in which they might debate the possibility and terms of their association. Yet, we must also invoke politics to resist the tendency inherent in the logic of reconciliation to bring to a close what should remain open, incomplete, contestable. Second, and following from this, in conceiving reconciliation politically we must reverse the order of our moral thinking. It is a political mistake to presuppose a moral community that must be restored between those alienated by past wrongs. Political reconciliation would never get off the ground if it required agreement on shared norms and the facts of wrongdoing in order to initiate the return of the wrongdoers to community with those wronged. Rather, it must begin with the constitution of space for politics and the invocation of a “we” that is not-yet and proceed from this faith in community toward the possibility of a shared understanding of what went before.
2
Chowcat, Ian. "Democracy, legitimacy and reconciliation." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 1997. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10201/.
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This thesis aims to recover the central importance of the deliberative aspect of democracy which recent liberal theorising has neglected, and to capture common intuitions about the foundational nature of democratic institutions. The fundamental problem of political philosophy is that of justifying principles or institutions which can reconcile individuals and the political community on a moral basis. The use of political authority is morally legitimate when it is grounded upon such a reconciliation. Attempts to justify as legitimate a liberal constitutional framework are shown to fail, whether carried out on the basis of membership of a community, or as given by principles of justice, or on the grounds of utilitarianism or a perfectionist ideal. All these approaches must rely ultimately on a claim that there is or can be a consensus around some conception of morality or the good. However, none of them is entitled to claim that such a consensus can be reached without there already being in place a political process through which we can discover or construct a consensus, or find a way to go on when disagreement persists. The question then arises of how such a ground-level political framework can be justified and precisely what form it takes. The starting point is a notion of agents each with their own views about social and political issues. An argument is constructed from the logic of having such views to the conclusion that each agent has obligations to be prepared to participate in public discussion, and to accept democratic political decisions which are based upon such discussions. Failure to do so is self-undermining. Political legitimacy resides in the achievement of reconciling individuals to collective decisions. The practical implications of this notion of deliberative democracy for institutions and for individuals are drawn out.
3
Chalkley, Marie Leone Enterline Andrew John. "Saying sorry conflict atrocity and political apology /." [Denton, Tex.] : University of North Texas, 2009. http://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-11054.
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Manning, Peter. "Justice, reconciliation and memorial politics in Cambodia." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2014. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/871/.
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This thesis examines conflicts and congruities between memories of past political violence, and the implications these have for attempts to enable ‘justice’ and ‘reconciliation’ in Cambodia. The project takes the establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) as a starting point that seeks to stabilise a narrow account of past political violence. The ECCC is important as a point of departure because it is the main institutional site through which Cambodia is confronting past political violence. Tasked with prosecuting crimes perpetrated by Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, the ECCC promotes a restricted reading of political violence in Cambodia, attempting to silence some pasts whilst calling attention to others. At the same time, the work of the ECCC situates the past as a field of intervention that can yield particular ameliorative social and political outcomes: providing a sense of justice, establishing the truth of political violence in Cambodia, deterring the future perpetration of atrocity, and enabling reconciliation. Memory is integral to these ends as the key target of civic renewal. Based on eight months of fieldwork in 2008/9 conducted at multiple sites in Cambodia, the project critically reflects on the ECCC’s attempt to generate a unified and consensual account of political violence in Cambodia. Three key findings are evidenced. Firstly, whilst the ECCC attempts to frame and stabilise a preferred account of political violence through a judicial process that reconstructs memory through disclosure and concealment, this process itself is contested by the subjects it animates (its ‘victims’ and ‘perpetrators’). Moreover, I argue that the work of the ECCC actually catalyses multiple, often conflicted claims over what justice and reconciliation mean as socio-political strategies. The ECCC continues to generate unintended and unexpected results in the way that it platforms, recues and generates demands of the past. Secondly, the research findings evidence diverse and competing regimes of memory in Cambodia that call into question the possibilities of the ECCC in reconstructing a unified, shared public memory of political violence in Cambodia, and providing a sense of justice and reconciliation on that basis. These are frequently encountered exactly at the propagation of the ECCC preferred reading of past political violence, gesturing to the way that conflicting memory occurs – or is foregrounded – in resistance to power. Thirdly, the research findings evidence competing rationales for remembering and forgetting political violence in varied ways (for example, material priorities, tourism, and attendant commercial interests). Moreover, the thesis documents ambivalence among some Cambodians toward memorials and museums and the pasts that they call attention to. In this sense, the project shows how these ambivalences are dislocated from and eschew the moral authority of the rationales grounding the ECCC’s work (providing a sense of justice and facilitating reconciliation in the name of continued memories of political violence).
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Fourlas, George. "Justice As Reconciliation: Political Theory in a World of Difference." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/18506.
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Divisiveness routinely turns violent, thus making research into alternative means of dealing with conflict an urgent necessity. This dissertation focuses on the politics of divisiveness and the techniques of conflict transformation. In this, I offer a robust and operable theory of reconciliation. I argue that reconciliation is the first principle of justice. In this sense, the ideal of justice is enacted through the improvement and coordination of social-political relations, which requires the development of trust and institutions that facilitate the ever emergent demos.
This is not to suggest that alternative approaches to justice, such as distributive models, are useless or wrong. Rather, justice requires a consensus which cannot be realized when persons see their neighbors as enemies. In conflicts, activities that benefit the enemy Other, such as the redistribution of wealth, will be taken as an injustice by other embattled social groups. As I demonstrate through various cases, interpersonal and institutional responses, like redistribution, often escalate discord and rarely create a shared sense of justice. Thus, conflict becomes a cyclical and multilevel problem. I explore how we can better respond to the cycle of conflict at individual, social, and systemic levels, in order to realize a legitimate notion of justice.
I use an interdisciplinary approach to defend my arguments, drawing on
iv philosophy and conflict resolution (CR). CR is an emerging field that emphasizes practical responses to conflict, often with advocacy for reconciliation. However, more theoretical work needs to be done to explain the ideal of reconciliation that directs CR practices. Within philosophy, little work has been done on the topic of reconciliation. A vast literature exists on the topic of justice, but this literature offers few practical descriptions of how persons come to agree upon the terms of justice. Thus, theories of justice are often labeled as 'ideal' simply because they are disconnected from the fragmented and conflict-ridden reality most people experience. This dissertation, as a project in non-ideal political theory that is empirically informed by cases and concerns in CR, fills these gaps in both philosophy and CR.
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Higham, Jon. "The politics of memory in the Austrian province of Carinthia how distinctive are the collective memories of the three main political parties of Carinthia? /." Thesis, Available from the University of Aberdeen Library and Historic Collections Digital Resources, 2008. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&pid=26086.
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Olschewski, Gerit Judith Rebekka. "Reconciliation: Reproducing the Status Quo? : A Critical Discourse Analysis on the Politics of Reconciliation in Canada." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Malmö högskola, Institutionen för globala politiska studier (GPS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-18495.
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Brower, Jay S. "Reconciliation, rhetoric, and the return of the political to its practical calling /." Available to subscribers only, 2009. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1878976521&sid=2&Fmt=2&clientId=1509&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2009."Department of Speech Communication." Keywords: Arendt, Hannah, Law, Reconciliation, Rhetoric, Sovereignty. Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-138). Also available online.
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Brower, Jay. "Reconciliation, Rhetoric, And The Return Of The Political To Its Practical Calling." OpenSIUC, 2009. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/36.
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This dissertation is about the political rhetorical process of reconciliation in the wake of crimes against humanity. In contrast to war crimes trials, the political process of reconciliation aims to bring together parties in conflict under the auspices of what are most often called "truth and reconciliations commissions" (TRC). For the Western juridico-political tradition, the ends of transitional justice are directed toward the enactment of retributive violence as a way to reestablish the political field through punishment and the institution of the rule of law. Rather than reestablishing a relationship, law reflects the logic of the sovereign decision and the application of supposedly universal moral standards. The TRC forum works, in contrast, toward a coming-into-relation of perpetrators and the aggrieved, and does so by focusing on the performance of speech and action about past atrocities as a way to turn toward future peace. Following the work of Hannah Arendt, I propose that rhetoric is central to the process of political relationship building. I conceive of rhetoric in its persuasive mood as a process of wooing an other where free deeds transform into free words in the exchange of opinion. I explore the role of forgiveness in the reconciliation process and the need for deliberation in discerning the border between the forgivable and unforgivable as part of the process of coming-into-relation. Finally, I consider how reconciliation and the process of political transition is suited to the notion of "democracy to come" and its implications for always already thinking a future that will never come, but that we, as citizens of democratic communities, must take as our goal.
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Stevenson, S. Ronald. "The Political Theory of Aboriginal Rights Law in Canada: Prospects for Reconciliation." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/32343.
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While the thesis will proceed with a step by step development of the core arguments from the political theory literature, followed by a detailed analysis of corresponding issues in the jurisprudence, it may help the reader to have a summary statement of the thesis argument from the very start. The core argument is that the Canadian approach to constitutionalism reflected in the model centered on Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, provides a framework, a methodology and a model for practice that could lead the Crown and aboriginal peoples within Canada towards the elusive goal of reconciliation. This framework, rooted firmly in the obligations of the nation-state, is materially different from most normative and legal literature that tends to gravitate to positions that emphasize either the lack of legitimacy of the nation-state or the lack of legitimacy of efforts to recognize aboriginal claims. In other words, this thesis develops an argument for the practical utility of a “middle-ground” approach. This middle-ground approach will depend on a novel interpretation of the foundational methodology adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada to animate Section 35, a particular interpretation of the “nested” relationship between Canadian domestic law, international law and indigenous legal systems and a development of the embryonic emphasis placed on dialogical processes to resolve deep disagreement about fundamentally disparate ontological and epistemological assumptions about attachments to land. In other words, the thesis attempts to develop a constitutional framework to support a practical blueprint to achieve a morally and politically defensible conception of aboriginal rights. Rather than simply defending the constitutional status quo, the thesis will develop what is intended to be a unified approach to Section 35 that will point the way towards several crucial additions to the jurisprudential framework so it can enable the deep deliberation that lies at the very heart of the best aspirations of Canadian constitutionalism.
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Kumordzie, Beatrice. "The political instrumentalization of religion in the South African truth and reconciliation commission." Master's thesis, Faculty of Humanities, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/11427/31612.
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The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been subject to numerous debates across a wide range of disciplines, including peace and conflict studies, justice and transformation studies, as well as religious studies. In political science, the debates concerning the TRC have mainly revolved around the peace versus justice dichotomy, and more recently - the heated question of whether symbolic measures as opposed to socioeconomic measures can pave the ideal path to justice and reconciliation in post-conflict societies. Arguably, the debates that have dominated the discourse on justice and transformation in South Africa so far has failed to acknowledge and unpack the central role that religion played in the country’s process of transition. My argument is that religion was instrumentalized politically in the TRC, and thereby used to morally justify certain political compromises that were made during the negotiations between the apartheid National Party (NP) and the African National Congress (ANC) in the early 1990s. By political instrumentalization, I am referring to the strategy of using an identity marker, in this case Christianity, to achieve political ends. I propose that that the Mandela administration purposely employed religious elements in the political nation-building-tool of the TRC with the intent to create an atmosphere of “spiritual healing”. This symbolic and inter-personal understanding of justice in turn, it can be argued, came at the expense of retributive and/ or socio-economic justice. The influence of religion within the TRC can be seen most strongly in the identity of the key people involved (the chairperson Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and four of the commissioners who were theologians), the overt biblical rhetoric employed both in the hearings and in the final report, as well as in the design of the commission. The constructivist theories in which this paper will frame its understanding of “the religious” suggests any space can become holy through the performance of religious practices. In this regard, I propose that the TRC, while appearing to be a court-like body, became a sacred space through practices including prayers, lighting of candles and singing of hymns.
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He, Yinan 1970. "Overcoming shadows of the past : post-conflict interstate reconciliation in East Asia and Europe." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28670.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 430-468).
This dissertation explores the origins of interstate reconciliation after traumatic conflicts, mainly through the comparative study of postwar Sino-Japanese and (West) German-Polish relations. While Germany and Poland have basically achieved deep reconciliation, the Sino-Japanese relationship is still dominated by mistrust and simmering animosity. I test and compare two competing theories to explain the different reconciliation outcomes. Realist theory argues that common security interests solely drive post-conflict reconciliation. I develop the second theory, historical mythmaking theory, which suggests that elite mythmaking of the conflict history for instrumental purposes will obstruct long-term reconciliation. Because national myths glorify and whitewash the action of their own nations and belittle others, they can cause the memories of former adversary states to clash. Such mutually divergent narratives will provoke negative emotions and perception of each other's hostile intention, both mechanisms contributing to bilateral conflict. The case studies show the relative strength of historical mythmaking theory. The Cold War structural pressure initially blocked reconciliation in both dyads. At that time Chinese and Japanese war memories actually converged on a common myth that blames only a small handful of Japanese militarists for the war. It is because China tried to win the hearts and minds of the Japanese people in order to obtain Japanese official recognition of the Communist regime. Since the Sino-U.S. rapprochement and East-West detente in the 1970s, however, structural conditions turned favorable to reconciliation. But China and Japan only brushed aside historical legacy to make way for diplomatic normalization. A
(cont.) honeymoon quickly disintegrated in the early 1980s when the changing domestic context prompted elites to create new national myths and escalate bilateral historiographic disputes. Since then, the history problem has aggravated mutual threat perception and popular hostility, seriously straining bilateral relations. In contrast, from the early 1970s West Germany and Poland narrowed their memory divergence through restitution measures and textbook cooperation. These efforts created a strong sense of closeness and trust, paving the way for the eventual reconciliation in the 1990s.
by Yinan He.
Ph.D.
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Chalkley, Marie Leone. "Saying Sorry: Conflict Atrocity and Political Apology." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2009. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc11054/.
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This study proposes and tests a comprehensive theory detailing the motivations behind political apologies. A brief survey of the literature shows a field rich in case studies but lacking in rigorous scientific analysis. The theory presented proposes a three-level examination of political apology at the state, dyadic, and system levels and incorporates the effects of culture, conflict, and the nature of the international system into analysis. This study makes use of a new dataset recording the occurrence of political apologies for interstate conflict atrocities from 1900 to 2006. The results suggest that the existing literature, while rich, does not account for all the motivating factors behind apology. The results also confirm that political apology is a creation of the modern era and a result of the liberalization of the international system. In conclusion, paths for future research are suggested and the advent of a global "age of apology" is confirmed.
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Rattazzi, Erin Alexis. "Narrating rape at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14273.
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Includes bibliographical references.The seven women who shared their stories of rape at the human rights violation hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ('TRC') in South Africa offer a nascent public record of women's experiences of rape under apartheid. This project is motivated by a desire to examine how these testimonies of rape were affected by explicit and implicit underlying narrative frameworks associated with the language of the TRC, and that of rape. In particular, this project analyses the extent to which the juxtaposition of these two frameworks at the TRC may have either enabled or constrained the seven women's narratives.
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Mechnig, Christopher Markus. "A Comparative Study of the Namibian and South African Transitions to Democracy and the Effects on Reconciliation." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/4105.
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Thesis (MPhil (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Namibian transition to independence and the South African transition to a majority democracy have many similarities as well as differences. The key similarities are composed of the shared history and mutual influences on society, the economy and national politics. Key differences constitute the manner in which the transitions were executed: internationally imposed in the Namibian case, and internally negotiated in the South African case. Almost every facet of Namibian and South African societies have in some way or another been imprinted by the respective transitions, which also contributed to the shape of the national consciousness. However, decades of stateenforced racial discrimination in the form of Apartheid legislation left its mark on both the Namibian and South African society. As a result, public and private consciousness is marred with racial and ethnic identities created and legislated during Apartheid, which is hampering democratic consolidation. This study provides a comparison between the South African and Namibian transitions, within the broader context of democratic consolidation. This study contends that reconciliation is a necessary condition for democratic consolidation in South Africa and Namibia, and aims to assess whether there is any significant difference between the impact of the internationally orchestrated Namibian transition as opposed to the internally negotiated South African transition on levels of reconciliation in the two countries. This is done by applying Gibson’s (2004) four criteria of reconciliation (interracial reconciliation, political tolerance, support for the principles of democracy and legitimacy) to the South African and Namibian cases. The hypothesis is that there should be less support for democratic ideals in Namibia than in South Africa, on the basis that democracy was, to a certain degree, forced unto Namibian society, while it was freely chosen by South African society. The main finding of this study, however, suggests that the differences in the transition style - the one being internationally orchestrated and the other being internally negotiated- seems not to have had any significant affect on national reconciliation. It seems as though hostility between different groups based mainly on the superficial racial and ethnic differences that were created during Apartheid has made way for hostility centred more on socio-economic differences. While socio-economic issues have become the overriding concern for both South Africans and Namibians, socio-economic differences between individuals and groups are still largely tied to ethnicity and race.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die onafhanklikheidswording en die oorgang na ‘n meerderheidsdemokrasie van onderskeidelik Namibië en Suid-Afrika word gekenmerk deur ‘n aantal ooreenkomste asook verskille. Die sleutel ooreenkomste behels die gedeelde geskiedkundige agtergrond, die invloede van die ekonomie en nasionalie politiek klimaat en die gevolglike uitwerking van hierdie faktore op die samelewing. In kontras behels die verskille die wyse waarop die oorgang uitgevoer is. In die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks is die proses deur interne onderhandelinge bewerkstellig terwyl die Namibiese oorgang sterk beinvloed is deur eksterne invloede. Ongeag hierdie verskille het die verwikkelinge ‘n hewige impak gehad op beide die Suid- Afrikaanse, asook die Namibiese publiek en hul kollektiewe bewussyn. Die invloed van jare se rasdiskriminasie in die vorm van apartheidswetgewing het egter sy tol op die publiek geëis. Die gevolg is die merkbare invloed van ras en etniese identiteite op albei lande se bevolkings wat oor die langtermyn demokratiese konsolidasie kan teenwerk. Hierdie studie tref ‘n vergelyking tussen Suid-Afrika an Namibië binne die breër konteks van demokratiese konsolidasie. Die studie veronderstel dat versoening ‘n noodsaaklike vereiste is vir demokratiese konsolidasie in Suid-Afrika en Namibië, en poog ook om die invloed van die intern-gedrewe Suid-Afrikaanse transisie teenoor die ekstern-georkestreerde Namibiese transisie te assesseer. Dit word gedoen deur die toepassing van Gibson (2004) se vier-voudige konsep van versoening (inter-ras versoening, politieke verdraagsaamheid, ondersteuning vir die beginsels van demokrasie en legitimiteit) op beide lande. Die hipotese word as volg geformuleer: Die Namibiese bevolking toon ‘n negatiewe ingesteldheid teenoor demokratiese beginsels aangesien demokrasie as regeerstelsel op die bevolking afgedwing is, in kontras met Suid-Afrika waar demokrasie as regeerstelsel deur ‘n meerderheidstemming verkies is. Die hoofbevinding van hierdie werkstuk is egter dat die verskille in die aard van die oorgang na demokrasie in beide lande nie ‘n noemenswardige invloed gehad het op nasionale versoening nie. Dit blyk egter dat konflik tussen sekere bevolkingsgroepe wat hoofsaaklik spruit uit die etniese en ras identiteite, soos geformuleer deur die apartheidswetgewing, huidiglik gesentreer is rondom sosio-ekonomiese verskille. Gevolglik word dit gemeld dat hierdie sosio-ekonomiese verskille direk verband hou met ras en etnisiteit. i
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Kouassi, Koffi Rene Yves. "When and How Does Reconciliation Work? A Comparative Study of South Africa and Sri Lanka." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2013. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/648.
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How could citizens trust a new regime after being oppressed by the previous one? How could citizens forgive their neighbors who yesterday were executioners, used by the previous government, to commit atrocities (Halpern and Weinstein, 2004)? How could people ever feel safe in their own country after being traumatized by civil wars and human rights violations? Is there a political process that could help countries transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one and consolidate that democracy? This thesis argues that reconciliation commissions are the answer to all these questions. It also argues that they could be the middle step between peace and democracy-building. However, there are some necessary and sufficient conditions that need to be satisfied.
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Merkulov, Nikolay. "The role of information in the reconciliation of interests of lobby[i]sts and politicians." Diss., Online access via UMI:, 2009.
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Earl, Derek J. R. "Credibly conveyed and genuinely received: Reconciliation and the South African TRC revisited." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/26896.
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This thesis revisits the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to explore societal-level reconciliation viewed as the reconstruction of identity. It argues that narrative processes of identity construction can contribute in a positive way to reconciliation when a message of reconciliation is credibly conveyed and genuinely received. This means that a message of reconciliation is communicated, that the content of the message responds to the needs of the socio-cultural context, and that the message has been understood and accepted. The TRC message of reconciliation is embodied in themes of human rights, forgiveness, and ubuntu which offer a vision to a peaceful, inclusive South Africa. The conclusions reached suggest some positive indicators of a developing process of reconciliation, but the long-term success of the construction of a peaceful, democratic, and inclusive South Africa will also be a function of success in the political and socio-economic sectors.
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Van, Niekerk Jaco Philip. "The failure of the Middle East peace process and structures for conflict." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53118.
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on the role of political elites in addressing the problem of why a durable peace has eluded Israeli Palestine. A theoretical background study was made on the articulation of identity within a civilization. This established identity formation as a political process. To see how the manipulation of the structure within which identity formation processes take place, six critical indicators were identified. These are: Manufacturing conditions of underdevelopment; Un-integrated social and political systems, and distributive injustice; Fostering cleavages, stereotypical images and political symbolism; Placing issues under the 'sign of security'; The production of insecurity through the manipulation of identity formation processes; and Monopolising the conflict resolution process. Political elite creation and perpetuation of structures for conflict shows an inherent inability to bring about a lasting peace in a protracted social conflict for conflict has become the source, rather than the outcome of policy formation. As a result this thesis calls for a more inclusive approach to conflict resolution, one that goes beyond the processes of arbitration, mediation, negotiation and facilitation, to include conciliation at grass roots level between civilizations, sincerely exploring the underlying emotional legacies of fear, hatred, sorrow and mistrust.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie fokus op die rol gespeel deur politieke elites in die voortslepende vraagstuk rondom vrede in Israel/Palestina. 'n Teoretiese agtergrondstudie is onderneem om die uitdrukking van 'n samelewing oftewel volksidentiteit te ondersoek. Die studie het laat blyk dat identiteitsformulering 'n politieke proses is. Om waar te neem hoe die manipulasie van die struktuur waarbinne identiteitsformulering plaasvind, is ses kritiese indikators geïdentifiseer, te wete: die skepping van toestande vir onderontwikkeling; ongeïntegreerde sosiale en politieke sisteme en ongelyke verdeling van welvaart; doelbewuste voortsetting van etniese verskille, stereotipering en politieke simbolisme; plasing van kwessies onder die vaandel van "sekuriteit"; die produksie van "onsekerheid" deur die manipulasie van identiteitsformulering prosesse; en die manipulasie van konflik resolusie prosedures. Skepping en doelbewuste voortsetting van strukture vir konflik deur politieke elites dui op 'n onvermoë om langdurige vrede in 'n 'uitgerekte sosiale konflik' te bewerkstellig. Konflik het die oorsprong, eerder as die uitkoms van beleid geword. As gevolg van hierdie feite doen die tesis 'n beroep dat konflik resolusie as dissipline 'n meer inklusiewe benadering volg. Die resolusie prosesse van mediasie, arbitrasie, fasilitering en onderhandeling is opsigself nie genoeg nie en behoort vergesel te word deur die proses van konsiliasie op grondvlak tussen samelewings. Hierdie proses moet deel vorm van 'n opregtheid om mense se vrese, haat, seer en wantroue met ootmoed aan te hoor.
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Magadla, Siphokazi. "The 16th County: Role of Diaspora Liberians in Land Reform, Reconciliation and Development in Liberia." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1273885451.
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Cilliers, Erasmus Jacobus Petrus. "The political economy of violence and post-conflict recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:0d7849b7-a1f2-49c6-9767-238ba38a6e14.
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This thesis presents theoretical work on armed group activity and empirical work on post-conflict recovery. In chapter two, I develop a general equilibrium model of violence to explain observed variation in coercive practices in conflict zones. Armed groups own land in the resource sector and allocate military resources between conflict and coercion, which assign de facto ownership over land and labour respectively. I find that coercion is higher if labour is scare relative to land, production is labour-intensive, or if one group is dominant relative to others. Furthermore, contrary to other studies, I find that coercion could decreases with price if military power is sufficiently decentralised, since conflict draws resources away from coercion. In chapter three, I evaluate a reconciliation program in post-conflict Sierra Leone. The program provides a forum for villagers to air war-time grievances, and also forges institutions designed to improve conflict resolution and build social capital. I find that respondents who received the intervention are more forgiving and are more charitable in their views of ex-combatants. Furthermore, conflict resolution improved and involvement in village groups and activities increased. However, psychological health---depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety---deteriorated. This study has direct implications for the design of transitional justice programs, as well as programs that aim to promote institutional change. In chapter four, I experimentally vary foreigner presence across behavioural games conducted in 60 communities in Sierra Leone, and assess its effect on standard measures of generosity. I find that foreigner presence substantially increases player contributions in dictator games, by an average of 19 per cent. Furthermore, the treatment effect is smaller for players who hold positions of authority; and subjects from villages with greater exposure to development aid give substantially less and are more inclined to believe that the behavioural games were conducted to test them for future aid. In chapter five, I use a model of repeated bargaining with one-sided asymmetric information to investigate the difficulties of reaching and sustaining power sharing agreements. I show that asymmetric information can explain the persistence of conflict, since learning slows down when there are future opportunities for bargaining.
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Bachu, Nivrata. "Problematizing 'victim's justice' : political reform in post-genocide Rwanda." University of the Western cape, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/5558.
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Magister Administrationis - MAdminIn this dissertation, I problematize 'victim's justice' in post-genocide Rwanda. I argue that the kind of justice that was meted out in post-genocide Rwanda, namely victors' justice and complementary to it – victims’ justice, does not allow for the political reform required to break the cycle of violence in Rwanda. In the aftermath of the 1994-Rwandan Genocide, both state and society were faced with a moral and political dilemma, because the popular agency or mass participation of perpetrators derived from the Hutu majority, who targeted the Tutsi minority, with intent to annihilate them. There were massacres of both Hutus and Tutsis, but Hutus were targeted as individuals, whereas Tutsis were targeted as a group. It is the specific ‘intent to annihilate’ Tutsis as group, that makes this a Genocide against Tutsis. I draw and develop arguments made by Mahmood Mamdani, elaborating on the specific question of ‘victims justice’ for political reform in Rwanda. Both kinds of justice were outcomes of the logic of the Nuremburg Trials. Since its inception, the legacy of the Nuremburg Trial is demonstrated in how it was idealized at the end of the Cold-War by international law and human rights regime. In essence, the historical and political context of the Nuremburg trial has been removed, as it has been produced into a template- the 'Nuremburg-styled criminal trial'. 'Criminal justice' has come to define how we think of justice after mass violence, as the most morally acceptable form of justice for the victims, and the most politically viable response for constituting a 'new political order' after mass violence. This dissertation addresses the argument made, that victors' justice and victims' justice in Rwanda, has constituted two categories, which collectivise Tutsis as victims and Hutus as perpetrators. In the context of a genocide, where the perpetrators are derived from the Hutu majority and the victims from the Tutsi minority, this present both a moral and political dilemma for Rwanda’s state-building and national reconciliation project. Criminal justice also frames mass violence as being criminal, rather than addressing it as political violence. This has troubling consequences for intervening into the cycle of violence in Rwanda. The 'cycle of violence' in Rwanda, refers to the continuation of political violence, in which 'every round of perpetrators has justified the use of violence as the only effective guarantee against being victimised yet again. Thus, intervention into the cycle of violence would mean thinking out of the logic of victimhood and pursuing an alternative kind of justice. To think of the genocide as political violence, redirects the attention to the issues that made the genocide possible. I establish the importance and necessity of critically interrogating 'victims justice' in Rwanda, by placing the 1994-Genocide in its historical and political context, with a particular focus on the legacy of colonialism. The post-colonial regimes in Rwanda, inherited the colonial institutions of rule; and the politicisation of Hutu and Tutsi into racial categories, which have shaped particular meanings for power, justice and citizenship. I demonstrate in this dissertation that critical issues found in post-genocide Rwanda today, are symptomatic of the inherited colonial legacy. I address the prevailing political crisis through an analysis on post-genocide governance; national reconciliation; the 'land question'; and the Great Lakes refugee crisis. Furthermore, I found that it was critically important for my research question, to also adopt a regional perspective, because Rwanda lies at the epicentre of the Great Lakes regional crisis. This dissertation concludes with returning to the question of political reform, and breaking the 'cycle of violence'. My suggestion is that we need to think of Mamdani's concept of survivor's justice, rather than victims' justice or victors' justice, which assist in confronting the needs of political reform that address colonial legacies.
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Kwon, David. "The Role of Jus Post Bellum in the 21st Century: Human Security and Political Reconciliation." Thesis, Boston College, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:108111.
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Thesis advisor: Kenneth HimesThe category of jus post bellum (jpb, postwar justice and peace) is a welcome addition to discussions of the justice of war. The goal of this dissertation is to review the significance of this recent development within the just war tradition. This project is based on a proposition that just war should aim at just peace; peace does not mean the absence of armed conflict, but it requires the establishment of justice. There is no true peace if it exists for the strong but not for the weak, for the victor but not for the vanquished. At the heart of jpb is the establishment of a just peace. With this preliminary proposition in mind, this dissertation endeavors to challenge the view of those who argue that reconciliation, mainly political reconciliation, is the first and foremost ambition of jpb. Instead, it attempts to justify the proposition that achieving just policing, just punishment, and just political participation are key to building a just peace, of which the fundamental characteristic must be human security. In the immediate aftermath of war there is little or no policing, punishment, or avenues for political participation to protect the civilians of defeated states, especially the most vulnerable ones. Therefore, this project argues (i) that human security is a neglected theme in the discourse of moral and theological intellectual traditions; and (ii) that a more balanced understanding of jpb must pay direct attention to the elements comprising human security in a postwar context as well as the quest for reconciliation. In particular, holding a realistic view that war is inherently destructive of people, institutions, and infrastructure, this project focuses on justice in reconstruction—reconstruction of just policing, just punishment, and just political participation. This destruction raises questions about the fulfillment of justice in the damaged postwar society. Considering these issues through the lens of human security and political reconciliation theories, I propose my “maxim(um) of ethical minimalism” for jpb—the principle of achieving to the highest extent possible human security, which is the necessary and essential outcome for jpb. It is the norm for jpb of achieving the common good to the highest extent possible, with priority on human security, using nonviolent means insofar as possible and violent means when necessary. This proposal contends that determination of the content of the responsibilities for just war reconstruction should be specified on the basis of the damage to relationships that need to be not merely restored, but also fundamentally transformed in the postwar society that prevents future threats. This thesis pays particular attention to civil society peacebuilding, which needs to be considered only to the extent that it is an objective of the postwar discussion and to the extent it is affected by jpb decisions. Yet, my primary thesis is that this transformative vision of jpb should be distinguished from an extensive buildup of a civil society scheme, which requires a wider and longer range of peacebuilding efforts. Instead, it must be tempered by realism in a careful and concrete manner, since the priority should be given to human security in the immediate aftermath of war. This study is an exercise in applied political ethics that employs various disciplines—security studies, international law, and peacebuilding work—to address the topic of jpb as a means of illuminating the theological discourse. Plainly, I employ this literature to explore how contemporary scholars view the idea of jpb and how this relatively new development fits within the Christian tradition of just war, a moral tradition that is historically interdisciplinary. Further, this attempt is a valuable contribution to the just war tradition by identifying what I view as three key themes of jpb, namely, three practices that are essential to implementing jpb immediately after a war: just policing, just punishment, and just political participation. While examining the interrelated challenges of moral and social norms in both political and legal domains, this dissertation proposes an innovative methodology for linking theology, ethics, and social science so that the ideal and the real can inform each other in the ethics of war and peacebuilding
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Theology
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Lopez, Evangelina, and Evangelina Lopez. "Psychosocial Impacts of Political Violence in the Context of Broader Debates on Post-Conflict Reconciliation." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625043.
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This literature review will consider the literature on political violence, specifically
genocide. Human rights and psychology will come together to examine psychological impacts of
political violence and potential effective accompaniments for victims of political violence. Forms
of reconciliation post-political violence will be addressed regarding the Guatemalan Genocide
and comparatively. A case study on the Guatemalan Genocide will also be provided addressing
the human rights violations that occurred, the psychosocial impacts of the genocide and forms of
reconciliation that have been implemented. The case study on Guatemala brings to light an
accurate example of transitional justice, and exposes the difficulty of attaining justice for
victims.
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Fletcher, Megan. "Along the road to reconciliation the challenges facing the truth commissions of El Salvador and Guatemala /." Diss., Connect to the thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10066/1509.
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Gustafsson, (fd Greek) Maria. "Does Difference Equal Division? : A Study of Reconciliation and Political Attitudes among young Croats in Mostar." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för freds- och konfliktforskning, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-315980.
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With its departure in the challenge of avoiding conflict-issues becoming politics, the present study merges the literatures on reconciliation and post-conflict politics, and asks why a difference in post-conflict political moderation can be observed in individuals. It uses questionnaire- and interview-material gathered in Mostar during spring 2013 to do a comparative case study, testing the hypothesis that reconciliation makes individuals more politically moderate with respect to war-related issues. Results in line with the hypothesis are found, and the relationship appears to be causal. However, the causal mechanism requires additional work, and the issue of confounders needs to be addressed by future studies to ensure robustness. In conclusion, with these caveats in mind, the answer to the question is that the level of reconciliation affects the levels of political moderation.
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Rage, Anne-Britt. "Achieving sustainable peace in post conflict societies : an evaluation of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/5302.
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Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.Bibliography
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores whether sustainable peace can be achieved in post-conflict societies using the transitional justice approach. In particular, the truth commission is investigated as a mechanism of transitional justice. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was selected as a case study to investigate the relationship between sustainable peace and transitional justice. This thesis analyses whether the TRC Commission followed its mandate, and whether there are any specific definitions, conclusions or recommendations that the TRC through its Final Report undertakes in order to fulfill a specific part of the mandate, namely “to ensure that there would be no repetition of the past” (TRC vol. 5, chap. 8, paragraph 14). This is done through a textual analysis of the Final Report of the South African TRC, where inherent weaknesses of the Final Report in its aim of achieving sustainable peace are read critically and deconstructively. It is further analysed through linking the issue of sustainable peace to the field of transitional justice and the study of political development on how future TRCs can deal with the issue of sustainable peace. This thesis comes to the conclusion that the South African TRC failed to contribute to a significant analysis of how to prevent the repetition of the past. It is argued that this is based on a lack of a coherent theoretical framework, as the Final Report mixes two different truth finding mechanisms: micro-truth finding and macro-truth finding, together with the just war theory. By analysing the TRC’s theoretical framework through textual analysis, it becomes clear that micro- and macro-truth finding is difficult to combine in one report, and that in the South African case the micro-truth finding part is prioritised. However, the macro-truth finding mechanism would have provided a more in depth analysis towards sustainable peace – which in this thesis is read as Galtung’s positive peace and Lederach’s structural peace – and is a necessary prerequisite in order to achieve sustainable peace. Also the use of a traditional reading of the just war theoryThis thesis explores whether sustainable peace can be achieved in post-conflict societies using the transitional justice approach. In particular, the truth commission is investigated as a mechanism of transitional justice. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was selected as a case study to investigate the relationship between sustainable peace and transitional justice. This thesis analyses whether the TRC Commission followed its mandate, and whether there are any specific definitions, conclusions or recommendations that the TRC through its Final Report undertakes in order to fulfill a specific part of the mandate, namely “to ensure that there would be no repetition of the past” (TRC vol. 5, chap. 8, paragraph 14). This is done through a textual analysis of the Final Report of the South African TRC, where inherent weaknesses of the Final Report in its aim of achieving sustainable peace are read critically and deconstructively. It is further analysed through linking the issue of sustainable peace to the field of transitional justice and the study of political development on how future TRCs can deal with the issue of sustainable peace. This thesis comes to the conclusion that the South African TRC failed to contribute to a significant analysis of how to prevent the repetition of the past. It is argued that this is based on a lack of a coherent theoretical framework, as the Final Report mixes two different truth finding mechanisms: micro-truth finding and macro-truth finding, together with the just war theory. By analysing the TRC’s theoretical framework through textual analysis, it becomes clear that micro- and macro-truth finding is difficult to combine in one report, and that in the South African case the micro-truth finding part is prioritised. However, the macro-truth finding mechanism would have provided a more in depth analysis towards sustainable peace – which in this thesis is read as Galtung’s positive peace and Lederach’s structural peace – and is a necessary prerequisite in order to achieve sustainable peace. Also the use of a traditional reading of the just war theoryThis thesis explores whether sustainable peace can be achieved in post-conflict societies using the transitional justice approach. In particular, the truth commission is investigated as a mechanism of transitional justice. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was selected as a case study to investigate the relationship between sustainable peace and transitional justice. This thesis analyses whether the TRC Commission followed its mandate, and whether there are any specific definitions, conclusions or recommendations that the TRC through its Final Report undertakes in order to fulfill a specific part of the mandate, namely “to ensure that there would be no repetition of the past” (TRC vol. 5, chap. 8, paragraph 14). This is done through a textual analysis of the Final Report of the South African TRC, where inherent weaknesses of the Final Report in its aim of achieving sustainable peace are read critically and deconstructively. It is further analysed through linking the issue of sustainable peace to the field of transitional justice and the study of political development on how future TRCs can deal with the issue of sustainable peace. This thesis comes to the conclusion that the South African TRC failed to contribute to a significant analysis of how to prevent the repetition of the past. It is argued that this is based on a lack of a coherent theoretical framework, as the Final Report mixes two different truth finding mechanisms: micro-truth finding and macro-truth finding, together with the just war theory. By analysing the TRC’s theoretical framework through textual analysis, it becomes clear that micro- and macro-truth finding is difficult to combine in one report, and that in the South African case the micro-truth finding part is prioritised. However, the macro-truth finding mechanism would have provided a more in depth analysis towards sustainable peace – which in this thesis is read as Galtung’s positive peace and Lederach’s structural peace – and is a necessary prerequisite in order to achieve sustainable peace. Also the use of a traditional reading of the just war theory contributes to an individualisation of the truth finding process and does not sufficiently support the macro-truths. Finally, by deconstructing the term never again it is shown that this approach should not be used in the TRCs or in the wider field of transitional justice v
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek of volhoubare vrede in postkonfliksamelewings met behulp van die oorgangsgeregtigheidsbenadering bereik kan word. Meer bepaald word die soeklig gewerp op die waarheidskommissie as meganisme van oorgangsgeregtigheid. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Waarheids-en-Versoeningskommissie (WVK) dien as gevallestudie om die verwantskap tussen volhoubare vrede en oorgangsgeregtigheid te bestudeer. Die tesis probeer vasstel of die WVK sy mandaat uitgevoer het, en of die Kommissie se finale verslag enige bepaalde omskrywings, gevolgtrekkings of aanbevelings bevat “om te verseker dat die verlede hom nie herhaal nie” (paragraaf 14, hoofstuk 8, volume 5 van die WVKverslag). Dít vind plaas deur middel van ! tekstuele ontleding van die finale WVKverslag wat die inherente swakpunte van dié dokument in sy strewe na volhoubare vrede krities en dekonstruktief benader. Die verslag word voorts ontleed deur die kwessie van volhoubare vrede te verbind met die gebied van oorgangsgeregtigheid sowel as ontwikkelingstudies oor hoe toekomstige WVK’s die kwessie van volhoubare vrede kan hanteer. Die tesis kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die Suid-Afrikaanse WVK nie ! bydrae gelewer het tot ! sinvolle ontleding van presies hoe om ! herhaling van die verlede te voorkom nie. Daar word aangevoer dat dít te wyte is aan die gebrek aan ! samehangende teoretiese raamwerk, aangesien die finale verslag twee verskillende waarheidsoekende meganismes vermeng – die mikrowaarheidsoeke en die makrowaarheidsoeke – en ook van die geregverdigde-oorlog-teorie gebruik maak. Deur die tekstuele ontleding van die teoretiese raamwerk van die WVKverslag word dit duidelik dat ! mikro- en makrowaarheidsoeke moeilik in een verslag te kombineer is, en dat, in die Suid-Afrikaanse geval, die mikrowaarheidsoeke voorkeur geniet. Tog sou die makrowaarheidsoeke ! grondiger ontleding bied vir die suksesvolle verwesenliking van volhoubare vrede, wat in hierdie tesis as Galtung se ‘positiewe vrede’ en Lederach se ‘strukturele vrede’ 5 verstaan word. Trouens, die makrowaarheidsoeke is ! voorvereiste om volhoubare vrede te bereik. ! Tradisionele lesing van die geregverdigde-oorlogteorie dra ook by tot ! individualisering van die waarheidsoekende proses, en bied nie voldoende ondersteuning vir die makrowaarhede nie. Laastens word daar deur die dekonstruksie van die uitdrukking nooit weer nie getoon dat hierdie benadering nie in WVK’s of op die groter gebied van oorgangsgeregtigheid tuishoort nie.
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Sensabaugh, Kathleen Brittain. "From implementation to impact : exploring the theories of change civil society organisation use to pursue community reconciliation." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20694.
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The central goal of this thesis is to explore the underlying theories and concepts that help to explain the step-by-step processes and form the foundations of reconciliation-based programmes in Cape Town, South Africa. In theory, civil society organisations (CSOs) have logical rationales of how their project designs lead to some form of reconciliation, but in practice, the links between project activities and project goals are very ambiguous and are seldom articulated in detail. Through empirical research, this thesis provides the explanation and articulation needed to link the goals and outcomes by applying strategies used in "theory of change" (TOC) discourse to two community reconciliation projects in Cape Town: the Community Healing Project housed under the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, and the Healing of Memory workshops housed under the Institute for Healing of Memories. A TOC framework was first applied to community projects in the 1990s in the United States. The framework was designed to help explain the underlying theories that linked the activities to outcomes of community programmes that were established to tackle social issues on the community level. Seen as a success in explaining these projects, a TOC framework has been applied to several other community organisations, but has not been fully explored outside the Western context. The main goal of this research, then, is to apply a TOC framework to the two case studies and ascertain if it is a helpful tool in explaining community reconciliation interventions. The rationale for this research stems from the superficial engagement of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South African communities, which resulted in a lack of healing and reconciliation at the community level. After the completion of the TRC, CSOs filled this gap in reconciliation by designing programmes to facilitate healing and reconciliation within communities. Years into the construction of such reconciliation projects, more information is needed about how the CSOs explain their programmes. The methodology for this research first involves an inductive approach that allows for observations about the activities and intended outcomes that make up the two case studies, then applies a TOC framework that allows for the explanation of the concepts that link the activities and outcomes. The research concludes that the application of a TOC framework to community reconciliation projects is not only a useful tool in helping to explain how the projects operate, but should be a necessary practice in explaining community reconciliation interventions because of its ability to describe the complicated phenomenon of reconciliation and avoid superficial explanations. By applying a TOC framework, the concepts and theories that lie behind the intervention strategies help to articulate why change happens the way it does.
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Boyle, J. Patrick. "Intergroup Reconciliation in Post-conflict Contexts| The Juxtaposition of National Identification and Empathy." Thesis, The New School, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3626183.
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Can individual differences moderate the deleterious effects of nationalistic attitudes on post-conflict peacemaking? In this work we investigate the relationship between national identification and attitudes toward reconciliation as moderated by dispositional and situational empathy. We hypothesize that the relationship between the socio-ideological concept of national identity and conciliatory attitudes is moderated by an individual difference variable unrelated to group processes, dispositional empathy, as well as by state-induced empathy. We tested this hypothesis in the Balkans, which have been the theatre of two wars in the 1990s, using samples of the Serbian population, and in the U.S., which has engaged in a drone war victimizing the Pakistani people. Study 1 results demonstrate the negative impact of national identification on attitudes toward reconciliation and reveal a moderating role of trait-level perspective-taking (a key aspect of empathy) in the relationship between national identification and conciliatory attitudes. Study 2 results confirm the effects of dispositional empathy and national identification on attitudes facilitating reconciliation. However, moderating effects of trait-empathy are absent and the state-empathy induction yields results that are inconsistent with those dispositional empathy effects found in Study 1.
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Kriel, Hennie. "Conflict transformation in South Africa : the impact of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on social identity transformation." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1760.
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Thesis (MPhil (Political Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.For a long time, conflict studies have focussed on the grand national projects of negotiating peace, concluded by the major actors in the country, like political parties, as well as international mediating actors like the UN. This view on solving conflict as a set top-down process were in recent years challenged by new theories on how to solve conflict. The conflict settlement theory had to make ideological and practical space for others like conflict resolution and conflict transformation, in the broader arena of conflict management. In the last 3 decades, conflict transformation has grown into a formidable tool in explaining conflict and moves toward peace-building. The fact that so many countries had collapsed back into civil war after their settlements, surely has something to say about the lack of longevity of some countries’ conflict settlement or conflict resolution approaches. This is why conflict transformation is such an attractive approach, especially in the case of South Africa. The political settlement of the early 1990s, that lead to an official peace, were also backed up by policies and programs to deal with the underlying causes and grievances that caused the conflict. The TRC was one aspect on post-1994 peace-building and enduring conflict transformation. The importance of the TRC as a transformative vehicle has been highlighted by the fact that so many institutions and individuals have made work of it to study the impact of the TRC on social transformation in the post-war era. Although many surveys indicate that South Africans have come to deal with the past to varying degrees and are seeing the various groups in the country as intertwined with the future of the country, there are still many worrying aspects that have to be addressed: interracial understanding and trust, and tolerance for one’s former enemies. The TRC has done much to build bridges between the formerly segregated groups of South Africa and the aim of this paper is to shed some light on these changes in attitudes.
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Le, Fort Olivia. "The politics of amnesty /." Thesis, McGill University, 2005. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=83955.
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Since Antiquity, the granting of amnesty to past atrocities has played a prominent role in political transitions. However, the moralized discourse of human rights that has emerged after the end of the Second World War has called for prosecutions in such cases. This study shows that granting individual amnesties to those responsible for past atrocities, as opposed to their prosecution, is a critical element in paving the way towards homonoia---harmony or concord---in a community that has been affected by civil strife. After having explored the origins of amnesty in Ancient Athens and its similarities with the amnesties granted by early modern European peace treaties and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the author argues that individual amnesty constitutes the only way of uncovering the truth about past atrocities. This is turn facilitates the forgiving of perpetrators and thus the achievement of homonoia. Moreover, individual amnesty, as mainly a political act, can nevertheless encompass considerations of justice, when the notion is not restricted merely to its punitive aspect.
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Pule, Quincy. "The efficacy of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in East London: perceptions of participants." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019920.
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This study examines the degree to which the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in East London have mitigated the impact of gross human rights violations on some of the Duncan Village victims. The research draws upon responses from a convenience sample of victims of apartheid atrocities guided by their own individual experiences, literature on conflict management, and TRC hearings that took place in other African states. The East London TRC hearings alert one to the brutality of the apartheid regime whose political intolerance unleashed violence against ordinary citizens of East London. Despite being seen as a witch hunt against the apartheid security establishment, most of the victims feel the TRC opened lines of communication between former enemies, although one cannot conclusively say that total reconciliation between victims and perpetrators has been achieved. Insofar as telling the truth is concerned, the concept defies unanimous acceptance as a contributor to peaceful co-existence. The mere fact that some perpetrators refused to appear before the TRC is an indication that the value attached to it differs from person to person, particularly in a situation where the political landscape is characterized by intimidation and fear. The treatise unveils the East London TRC as a platform for compromise as some of the victims felt anger and hatred for the perpetrators would amount to perpetual self-imposed ostracism. Noting that the TRC was never meant to hurt anyone, the treatise ushers one into a space where reconciliation takes precedence over vengeance.
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LaVilla, Oriana H. D. "Reconciliation and The Rule of Law: The Changing Role of International War Crimes Tribunals." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2014. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/439.
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This thesis explores the relationship between international war crimes tribunals and peacebuilding in post-conflict societies. The aim of the present study was to examine how the role and function of international tribunals has changed since the establishment of the Nuremberg tribunal in the early years after World War II. Due to the evolving nature of international law and the international criminal legal system, international tribunals have become increasingly recognized as an integral component of peacebuilding processes in the aftermath of conflict. As the first international tribunal mandated to restore international peace and security, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) set a new precedent for international tribunals. Beginning with its establishment, there appeared to be a new trend of using international judicial mechanisms to promote peace and reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict. One important element of change was the increased tendency of international tribunals to engage in public outreach and help build the capacity of national justice sector institutions. As the first international tribunal to succeed the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals and the first UN tribunal of its kind, the ICTY has shown the extent to which international tribunals facilitate societal reconciliation is, and will be, understood within the context of the legacies they leave behind. Institutions such as the ICTY will not be judged solely on the merits of the ideals on which they were established, but instead on their concrete successes in the domestic arena and their ability to fortify domestic judicial capacity.
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Oberlander, Moshe Marla. "Peace building : the role of social work and law in the promotion of social capital and political integration." Thesis, McGill University, 2004. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=84686.
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The study suggests that two domestic conditions are critical to foster opportunities for sustainable peace between formerly conflicting societies. The conditions are defined as social capital and political integration. These are explored in the context of Israeli and Palestinian societies following the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993 and through 1999, just one year prior to the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada.Social capital refers to networks of association. Strong networks of relationship are important because they are positively associated with a community and/or society's ability to foster social cohesion, to problem-solve and cope with growing uncertainty such as that exemplifying the period of transition from conflict to peace.
Income inequality is inversely related to social capital. Communities and societies characterized by growing income inequality are typified by diminishing social capital, hence receding capacity to weather the impact of major societal change.
The term political integration refers to the relationship between a government and its citizens. In politically integrated societies citizens share a sense that government is concerned with their welfare and hence their loyalty is expressed through support of the government, its programs and policies. Growing political fragmentation, a lack of abidance, and the breakdown of relationships between civil society and government mark politically disintegrated societies. Political integration is particularly relevant in the aftermath of the signing of a peace agreement when domestic sectarian divides threaten to undermine the national entity that must maintain the delicate balance attained by formerly conflicting societies.
Social capital and political integration are the outcome of greater or lesser human rights: social and economic, civil and political. The persistence of inequality, social and economic, civil and political, wears down the relationships between members of a society and between citizens and their government.
Analysis of standard social and economic indicators in Palestinian and Israeli societies suggests that despite the promised peace dividend social and economic inequality persisted and in some instances worsened between 1993 and 1999. Analysis of civil and political conditions in both societies suggests that political disintegration as opposed to growing integration characterized the six-year period.
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Burn, Geoffrey Livingston. "Land and reconciliation in Australia : a theological approach." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10036/117230.
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This thesis is a work of Christian theology. Its purpose is twofold: firstly to develop an adequate understanding of reconciliation at the level of peoples and nations; and secondly to make a practical contribution to resolving the problems in Australia for the welfare of all the peoples, and of the land itself. The history of the relationships between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia has left many problems, and no matter what the non-Indigenous people try to do, the Indigenous peoples of Australia continue to experience themselves as being in a state of siege. Trying to understand what is happening, and what can be done to resolve the problems for the peoples of Australia and the land, have been the implicit drivers for the theological development in this thesis. This thesis argues that the present generation in any trans-generational dispute is likely to continue to sin in ways that are shaped by the sins of the past, which explains why Indigenous peoples in Australia find themselves in a stage of siege, even when the non-Indigenous peoples are trying to pursue policies which they believe are for the welfare of all. The only way to resolve this is for the peoples of Australia to seek reconciliation. In particular, the non-Indigenous peoples need to repent, both of their own sins, and the sins of their forebears. Reconciliation processes have become part of the international political landscape. However, there are real concerns about the justice of pursuing reconciliation. An important part of the theological development of this thesis is therefore to show that pursuing reconciliation establishes justice. It is shown that the nature of justice, and of repentance, can only be established by pursuing reconciliation. Reconciliation is possible because God has made it possible, and is working in the world to bring reconciliation. Because land is an essential part of Indigenous identity in Australia, the history of land in court cases and legislation in Australia over the past half century forms an important case study in this work. It is shown that, although there was significant repentance within the non-Indigenous legal system in Australia, the degree of repentance available through that legal system is inherently limited, and so a more radical approach is needed in order to seek reconciliation in Australia. A final chapter considers what the non-Indigenous people of Australia need to do in order to repent.
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Schooler, Lawrence. "Truth Talks: How North America’s Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Engage the Public in Change." Diss., NSUWorks, 2019. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd/125.
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Within the last 15 years, the first three Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) in North America formed and completed their work. Patterned after similar efforts in South Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere, the TRCs in Greensboro, North Carolina; Maine; and Canada heard voluntarily-offered testimony from members of the general public and key parties to decades-long conflicts. The Commissions also evaluated responsibility for the conflicts and offered recommendations for change in their respective communities and countries, informed by the testimonies they received.
This qualitative methods multiple case study of the three Commissions’ recommendations involved archival research and data analysis of testimony to the Commissions, alongside the subsequent recommendations made by those Commissions and any further policy measures taken by host governments in Greensboro, Maine, and Canada.
The dissertation attempts to answer the research question: to what extent can truth and reconciliation commissions empower parties to long-running and wide-reaching conflicts to influence changes in their communities, states, or countries in ways courts cannot? Among the conclusions reached in this research is that TRCs integrated public testimony to a significant extent into their findings and recommendations, though the three governments in Greensboro, Maine, and Canada have implemented those recommendations with varying levels of commitment. This study can assist others tackling large-scale conflicts to consider how best to incorporate a truth and reconciliation commission into their efforts at healing and growth in their communities.
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Maribha, Sheilla Kudzai. "An evaluation of Zimbabwe's national peace and reconciliation commission Bill, 2017." University of the Western Cape, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/6369.
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Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure)This is a study of Zimbabwe's National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Bill (hereafter NPRC Bill). The NPRC Bill seeks to bring the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (hereafter NPRC) of Zimbabwe into operation. The NPRC is a truth commission set to promote post-conflict justice, national peace and reconciliation in Zimbabwe. The study discusses the prospects of establishing an effective NPRC in Zimbabwe by examining the provisions of the NPRC Bill. The view of the paper is that, without proper guidance from a comprehensive law, the NPRC is bound to be a victim of its own failure.
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Torres, Rubio Juan Antonio. "DDR, Social Contact and Reconciliation : A case-study on Colombian former combatants." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Hugo Valentin-centrum, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-297181.
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As part of the peacebuilding measures in scenarios of transformation from civil conflict to a state of post-conflict, the control of hostile forces constitutes a risky, yet necessary process. In such contexts there is also a concern to generate strong ties and incentives that minimize the recurrence of violence. For this purpose reconciliation emerges as a condition for long-lasting peace. This concept eventually requires that armed actors, victimized subjects and society in general agree on critical points and become able to live together. For former combatants these steps are especially challenging since they are confronted by an adverse environment that requires the assumption of new codes of conduct that are no longer ruled by any sort of weaponry. With this puzzle in mind, this study enquired about the extent to which social contact is likely to influence the perspectives of reconciliation held by demobilized combatants immerse in an institutional scheme of DDR. In order to gather a comprehensive discussion around this question, this thesis observed the Colombian DDR process, gathering unique empirical data from individuals exposed to varying degrees of contact. From the information collected and its qualitative analysis, it was found that inter-group interactions are able to promote deep understanding about out-groups; nonetheless, extended contact along ongoing hostilities does not ensure complete transformation of misperceptions, even among subjects coming to the end of their reintegration process.
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Beavers, Kathryn Elizabeth. "'The balance or reconciliation of opposite or discordant qualities' : political tensions and religious transitions in the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge." Thesis, University of Greenwich, 2011. http://gala.gre.ac.uk/7779/.
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My thesis considers the profound effect of the all-pervading late Eighteenth-Century revolutionary climate on the evolving religious and political views of the young Coleridge, and their expression through his published works from 1794-1800. I consider how Coleridge‘s continuing use of religious imagery evolved, following his transition from the established tradition of Dissenting religion, towards a more personal form of Dissent, grounded in Pantheism. Chapter One considers how Coleridge‘s sonnets, lectures and periodical (The Watchman) of 1794-5 articulated his developing radical political and Dissenting religious views. Fundamental to Coleridge‘s views was a notion of the Establishment Anglican Church as a hollow Christian sham, needing a spiritually renewed form of religion to bring it back to God. Chapter Two compares Religious Musings and Fears in Solitude, examining how Coleridge‘s political and religious views matured in the intervening four years. I also focus on iconic and archetypal figures featured in The Wanderings of Cain, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Christabel. A key figure is the Wanderer, who appeared in different guises in Coleridge‘s works of this period. I also examine the protean nature of Geraldine, from Christabel, as a rare female manifestation of the Wanderer, as well as the iconic and archetypal guises of serpent, Lamia, Lilith, and succubus. Chapter Three considers Coleridge‘s exploration of the relationship between power, politics, and religion, in his translation of Schiller‘s Wallenstein trilogy, through a comparison of Wallenstein and the archetypal figures of Satan and Faust. I consider how Coleridge has used the vehicle of translation as a creative space, allowing him to articulate and develop his changing religious and political opinions. The notion of translation as creation has not previously been considered. Chapter Four examines Coleridge‘s influence on second-generation Romantic Period writers, specifically Mary Shelley. I discuss the evidence for Coleridge‘s influence on her novels and short stories, also drawing attention to her religious and political expression in microcosm, compared with Coleridge‘s macrocosmic political views.
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Jaede, Maximilian. "The concept of enmity in the political philosophy of Hobbes." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/6679.
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To the author's knowledge, this is the first systematic study of the concept of enmity in the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. Examining this important category does not only elucidate the concept itself, but also provides an opportunity to reconnect fragments of Hobbes's thought that are increasingly being treated as disparate subjects. It is suggested that the notion of enmity can shed further light on related aspects of his political philosophy, including human competitiveness, the roles of fear and trust, the evil of violent death, the status of rebels, and his theory of international relations. In addition, the subject invites a rethinking of Hobbes's place in the history of political thought. It is argued that he was among the first to make enmity a central subject of political philosophy. This seems to be related to Hobbes's break with the traditional notion of natural sociability, as a consequence of which he describes the natural condition of mankind as a war of all against all. Although Hobbes depicts human beings as natural enemies, he holds that enmity does not exclude the possibility of reconciliation; individuals can supposedly overcome their hostility through subjection to a sovereign. These views give rise to a dynamic distinction between public and private enmity, according to which outright hostility can be transformed into private rivalry if human beings renounce their natural right of war. Conversely, subjects become public enemies if they rebel against the sovereign. Hobbes's views on natural enmity and reconciliation also have important implications for his theory of international relations. This thesis particularly highlights the possibility that states can be decomposed and reassembled after a foreign invasion, which precludes wars of annihilation.
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Haglund, Sebastian. ""THEY SAY I AM A TRAITOR" : Contact as a Predictor for Reconciliation among Young Adults in Eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Hugo Valentin-centrum, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-303963.
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Purdeková, Andrea. "Political projects of unity in divided communities : discourse and performance of "Ubumwe" in post-genocide Rwanda." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b47fef23-18cf-44b6-97ba-9400719c6640.
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The present thesis explores the politics of reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda by focusing on one of its little-studied aspects— the government-led project of ‘unity building.’ To uncover the type of unit(ies) that are actually produced (not just officially envisioned), the analysis operates at three interconnected levels— i) at the level of the discourse of unity and reconciliation (studying its proper logic in addition to the ways in which it is shaped/structured by other discourses, such as security or prosperity/development); ii) at the level of concrete strategies and policies; and finally iii) at the level of ‘enaction’ through a score of official (and purportedly ‘local’ and ‘traditional’) activities. Many of the activities considered here have received no in-depth study. The official activities are explored both in toto and through an in in-depth analysis of one key exemplar – the ingando camps – transitory and transient spaces of re-education/sensitisation and reintegration tailored for selected segments of the population. The thesis demonstrates the ways in which the process of kubaka ubumwe / unity-building is profoundly politicised. Detailed attention is paid to exposing the way in which i) political dynamics affect the very conception of ‘unity’ and ‘reconciliation;’ ii) the manner in which power and the state mould unity and reconciliation activities, determining what can be achieved through them (or not); and finally iii) the ways in which the government appropriates the whole unity-building process for other than stated aims. The research shows how unity is shaped to imply consent, homogeneity and non-dissension, thus serving specific governmentality goals in the highly controlling environment of the authoritarian state (producing docile and legible subjects). Furthermore, the thesis shows how the process of unity and reconciliation is subsumed to the broader social engineering project of the state aimed at shaping citizens’ ‘mentalities’ and at their transformation into ‘perfect development subjects.’
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Asaala, Evelyne Owiye. "Exploring transitional justice as a vehicle for social and political transformation in Kenya." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/12469.
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Questions the viability of Kenya’s transitional justice mechanisms as vehicles for social and political transformation? In particular, the dissertation assesses the efficacy of transitional justice mechanisms adopted
by Kenya as a tool for democratic transformation. By focusing on the current delicate political situation in Kenya and the different approaches adopted in various contexts, the study could make a contribution by providing clarity on these issues.Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Atangcho N Akonumbo, Faculte de Sciences Sociales et de Gestion Universite Catholique D’Afrique Centrale Yaounde Cameroun.
Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2009.
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/
Centre for Human Rights
LLM
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Burazerovic, Miran. "Bosnien-Hercegovina - en studie om försoning mellan tre etniska grupper." Thesis, Växjö University, School of Social Sciences, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1816.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate if reconciliation between former war-enemies and ethnic groups (Muslims, Croats and Serbs) in Bosnia and Hercegovina is possible today. Reconciliation between these groups is necessary for the development of the state and sustainable peace. In order to fulfil the aim I have applied qualitative conversation interviews together with qualitative literature study.
In this research I have studied the three largest parties (SDA, HDZ and SDS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Conversation interviews were made with two representatives of each party. The reconciliation theory and the recommendations that the theory advocates were used in the study. The recommendations were also used to create interview questions that gave me relevant empirical data from the interviews. The interview data with the high representatives of these political parties led to a valid result.
The conclusions show that reconciliation between these three ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not possible today. Huge political, economical and social changes and improvements are necessary. All three classes, top-level, middle-range and grassroots, must get involved in the process if reconciliation is to be possible.
Keywords: Bosnia and Herzegovina, reconciliation, ethnic groups, political parties.
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Azman, Muhammad Danial. "Resolving the post-election violence and developing transitional justice institutions through power sharing : power and ideology in Kenya's quest for justice and reconciliation : a justice without punishment?" Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9617.
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Vezzani, Giovanni. "European Muslims and Liberal Citizenship: Reconciliation through Public Reason: The Case of Tariq Ramadan's Citizenship Theory." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2016. https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/228062/4/Thesis.pdf.
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This study investigates the subject of Muslims’ citizenship in contemporary Western European societies from the viewpoint of John Rawls’s political liberalism, in particular in light of the ‘idea of public reason’ [see John Rawls, Political Liberalism, expanded edition (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005) and the 1997 essay “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited,” originally published in University of Chicago Law Review 64 (1997), 765-807 and now included in Political Liberalism, expanded edition, 440-490]. By its very nature, political liberalism does not prescribe a single model for being Muslim in contemporary Europe. Thus, one may wonder if it is too vague as a point of departure for the analysis. On the other hand, however, here I argue that political liberalism specifies a peculiar evaluative framework that allows citizens to answer questions such as “What is politically at stake when citizens of Muslim faith are publicly presented as permanent aliens in contemporary European societies?”, “On what grounds is such exclusion based?”, and “What requirements can European citizens be reasonably expected to meet?” in a distinctively political way and, ideally, to solve the political and social problems from which those questions spring. In this research, I claim that public reason provides a common discursive platform that establishes the ground for a public political identity and for shared standards for social and political criticism. Together, these two elements solve the two dimensions of the problem of ‘stability for the right reasons’ (in Rawls’s terms) in contemporary European societies, because they secure both the political inclusion of Muslims on an equal footing as citizens and civic assurance that they will remain committed to fair terms of social cooperation. A joint solution of these two apparently conflicting demands of stability for the right reasons (i.e. inclusion and mutual assurance) requires an effort in political reconciliation. After having compared public reason citizenship with two prominent normative alternatives, I will conclude that the former is an adequate ideal conception of citizenship for European societies. Finally, I will apply the justificatory evaluative methodological framework (whose requirements I will specify starting from the idea of public reason itself) to a conception of citizenship elaborated by one of the most renowned Muslim public intellectuals in Europe: Tariq Ramadan. (I justify the choice of this author in sections 2.3 and 6.1). Such an evaluation sheds light on one of the main insights of this research, that is, the idea that public reason makes a decompression of the public space possible: it frees the public space from those forces that would prevent citizens from the possibility of exercising effectively their two moral powers (once more in Rawls’s words, the ‘capacity for a sense of justice and for a conception of the good’) as free equals. In this sense, public reason tries to reconcile ideal political consensus and the fact of reasonable pluralism on a public political ground. I believe that this is the deepest meaning of what Rawls calls ‘reconciliation through public reason’: its aspiration is to reabsorb reasonable pluralism politically without annihilating it.This research is structured in three parts: the first is methodological, the second is reconstructive, and the third is evaluative. Each part is composed of two chapters.In chapter one (“General Framework”), I begin from some empirical observations about the role of perceptions and identities in relation to the issue of Muslims’ citizenship in contemporary Europe. I claim that from this point of view Islam seems to “make problem” in a very specific sense. This does not mean that Islam is a problem, but that Islam is frequently publicly presented and perceived as a problem. This is the background problem from which my work starts. Thus, I explore some dimensions of such a problem (see 1.1). Subsequently, I provide a more specific formulation of the research problem and questions and of the aims of this study. Then, the main research question (Q) is stated in these terms: Which ideal conception of citizenship should provide the common normative perspective in contemporary Western European societies, which are characterised by both demands of inclusion of Muslims and the need for solving a ‘problem of mutual assurance’ [on which, see in particular Paul Weithman, Why Political Liberalism? On John Rawls’s Political Turn (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010)] concerning citizens’ commitment to shared terms of social cooperation, so that those societies can be stable for the right reasons? In order to answer this question, I also specify three sub-questions that I call respectively Q1, Q2, and Q3 (see 1.2).In chapter two (“Toward a Justificatory Evaluative Political Theory”), I firstly try to frame the problem of public justification within Rawls’s political liberalism (see 2.1). I then consider a specific approach to the question of Muslim citizenship in liberal democracies which can be adopted from a Rawlsian perspective: namely, reasoning from conjecture (see 2.2). Finally, I explain my own approach (which I call justificatory evaluative political theory) by means of comparison with the method of reasoning from conjecture (see 2.3). In presenting the evaluative framework specified from a political liberal standpoint, I point out three political liberal evaluative requirements: the reciprocity requirement (RR), the consistency requirement (CR), and the civility requirement (CiR).Chapter three (“What is Public Reason?”) deals with the history of the notion of public reason from Kant to Rawls and its enunciation within Rawls’s work (see 3.1 and 3.2 respectively). In doing so, I also identify three specifications for the three political liberal evaluative requirements considered in the second chapter. Furthermore, in chapter three I also unpack CR in three different dimensions (PR1, PR2, and PR3).Chapter four (“Public Reason and Religion. Reinterpreting the Duty of Civility”) completes the reconstructive stage by analysing Rawls’s ‘wide view’ of public reason and two major lines of objection to it (see 4.1). After having discussed such criticisms, I then introduce my own interpretation of the ‘proviso,’ which is structured around a two-level (or bifurcate) model of the ‘duty of civility’ (see 4.2).Chapter five (“Reconciliation through Public Reason: Justificatory Evaluative Political Theory between Modelling and Application”) bridges the second and the third part, that is, the reconstructive and the evaluative stage respectively. In the first section of the chapter, I summarise the political liberal evaluative requirements developed in the second part. In doing this, my purpose is to present my justificatory evaluative model of public reason citizenship (see 5.1). In the second section, I firstly argue that a conception of citizenship grounded in public reason is not only possible in existing European societies, but also preferable if compared with alternative conceptions (I consider liberal multiculturalism and Cécile Laborde’s critical republicanism [Cécile Laborde, Critical Republicanism: The Hijab Controversy and Political Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008)]) with reference to the problem under scrutiny in this research. In conclusion, I show that public reason citizenship is able to solve the theoretical problem and the main research question mentioned above: Which ideal conception of citizenship should provide the common normative perspective in contemporary Western European societies, which are characterised by both demands of inclusion of Muslims and the need for solving a problem of mutual assurance concerning citizens’ commitment to shared terms of social cooperation, so that those societies can be stable for the right reasons? In the final part of chapter five, I try to demonstrate that public reason citizenship can both include Muslim citizens and solve the assurance problem because it provides both shared standards for political criticism and a common political identity on the basis of which citizens politically recognise one another as free equals. If my argument succeeds, then public reason citizenship not only could but also should be adopted as the ideal conception of citizenship in European societies (see 5.2).In the sixth chapter (“Tariq Ramadan’s European Muslims and Public Reason”) I apply the evaluative framework based on public reason to the conception of citizenship for Muslims in Europe developed by Tariq Ramadan. (According to a principle introduced in chapter two which I call the “plausibility principle” PP, I argue that Ramadan’s theory of citizenship can be plausibly presented as a “European Muslim” approach to the issue of citizenship, see 6.1). The purpose of such an evaluative work is twofold. Firstly, it aims at examining whether and how the idea of public reason accounts for a version of European citizenship for Muslims coming from Muslims themselves. Secondly, it aims at disclosing whether what such a Muslim conception of citizenship in Europe says about the two dimensions of ‘stability for the right reasons’ of the system of social cooperation (namely, inclusion and ‘mutual assurance’) is consistent with the provisions of public reason citizenship (see 6.2-6.5).Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales
N.B. 1) Le lieu de défense de la thèse en cotutelle est ROME (Luiss Guido Carli)2) L'affiliation du co-promoteur de la thèse en cotutelle (Sebastiano Maffettone) est: LUISS Guido Carli
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
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Hsiao, Ling-yu. "Contesting the past in the present : a critique of transitional justice scheme in Taiwan." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/275999.
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The White Terror in Taiwan was a 43-year period during which the Kuomintang (KMT) regime, with significant support from the United States during the Cold War era, persecuted its political opponents, imprisoning tens of thousands of people and executing some 1200. In the wake of democratisation since the 1980s, Taiwan has instituted a scheme of transitional justice to acknowledge and atone for the past political oppression and to promote national reconciliation. As this initiative was undertaken by the same regime that perpetrated the White Terror, questions of objectivity and transparency arise. Accordingly, this thesis aims to assess the progress of transitional justice in Taiwan by examining the official discourse on the subject and also analysing the non-official discourses amongst survivors of the White Terror in present-day Taiwan. Tensions between the different discourses are identified. This thesis focuses on the construction of the past in the present, which refers to contestation of the past in the context of present-day society in Taiwan. Drawing on discursive analysis of Taiwan’s transitional justice initiatives since the late 1990s, as well as in-depth interviews with 24 former political prisoners, it discerns how the official transitional justice discourse is circumscribed and limits our knowledge of the White Terror. Since the implied fall of communism, the aim of reconciliation has not embraced the former socialists and communists at the global level, enabling the KMT government to elude accountability in its transitional justice efforts by rationalising the White Terror in the name of anti-communism. As a result, Taiwan’s socialist dissidents remain stigmatised in the official discourse, which offers redress only to those individuals who disassociate themselves with subversion and identify as ‘political victims’. This restriction in the official discourse suggests that the government wishes to reconcile only with those who were ‘innocent’ of treason. By the same token, the identity of White Terror victims is de-politicised, distorting the content of their trauma and shame and their survivorhood in present-day Taiwan. Informants’ non-official discourses, which point up the contradictions in the government discourse, reveal that survivors tend to feel profound shame owing to the failure of their political projects, viewing themselves as inept revolutionaries. Much of their interest in transitional justice lies in seeking opportunities to advocate for the causes to which they still adhere. Thus, their identity as survivors is focused less on persecution than on sustaining their political activism in the era of reconciliation. Thus, the tension between the official and non-official transitional justice discourses in Taiwan is not only a contestation of the past but, more profoundly, a contestation of the vision for the nation’s future.
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Nguluwe, Johane A. "The "puny David" of Shona and Ndebele cultures a force to reckon with in the confrontation of the "Goliath" of violence /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) Access this title online, 2006. http://www.tren.com.
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Benda, Richard Munyurangabo. "The test of faith : Christians and Muslims in the Rwandan genocide." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-test-of-faith-christians-and-muslims-in-the-rwandan-genocide(b83bdce7-1f06-4532-b463-eaefe5f774bb).html.
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This thesis is a critical inquiry into the response to the Rwandan genocide of 1994 by Christians and Muslims. Structured around the thesis that Muslims resisted the genocide better than Christians, it explores the historical, cultural, political and theological causes that motivated and explain the actions of both faith communities in the face of genocide. The first chapter offers a critique of the dominant colonial perspective from which the topic of religion and genocide has been studied so far. It presents pre-colonial Rwandans as evolving in a complex spiritual universe, Gakondo, where religion, morality and politics were closely linked. The rise of a centralised state and sacred monarchy resulted in the theological marginalisation of the Rwandan divinity Imana and the deformation of the political conscience of the Rwanda subject. The second and the third chapter deal respectively with the beginnings of Christianity and Islam in Rwanda within the context of colonization. They show the genealogy of Christianity’s political ambivalence and Islam’s marginalisation, both which played an important role in the genocide of 1994. One significant contribution of the second chapter is to problematise the epistemological confusion between Rwandan Christianity and Roman Catholicism. Chapter four suggests a framework for the understanding of ‘Rwanda 94’ as an instance of evil. It offers a critique of the epistemic hijacking that characterises research in the Rwandan events. The chapter argues for a historical and naturalistic approach to the study of ‘Rwanda 94’, which should be qualified as ‘autocide’ instead of genocide because of the intimacy between victims and perpetrators. Chapter five and six tackle the thesis that Muslims resisted the genocide better than Christians. Examination of the factual data and revisionist discourses in post-genocide Rwanda lead to the conclusion that the imputation of success to Islam and failure to Christianity is operated by virtue of expectations on both faith communities. More specifically, chapter six provides a theological reading of Christianity’s shortcomings as sin. Chapter seven addresses the paradoxical phenomenon of religious blossoming in post-genocide Rwanda and argues that it is faith-based resistance to genocide shown by many Muslims and individual Christians which made ‘God-talk’ possible and ensured the survival of institutional religion. Chapter eight gives a summary and critique of the process of reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda. It argues that Islam and Christianity need to develop an alternative model of reconciliation that challenges and moralises the State-engineered politics of reconciliation.
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Audretsch, Andreas. "Die südafrikanische Wahrheits- und Versöhnungskommission : eine exemplarische Studie zum Umgang mit Unrechtssystemen." Universität Potsdam, 2008. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2008/1957/.
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Die Apartheid in Südafrika war ein Unrechtssystem. Zu den Grausamkeiten des Regimes zählten Massaker, Folter, Mord, Freiheitsberaubung, Zwangsumsiedlung, ökonomische Benachteiligung und alltägliche Diskriminierung. Was nach dem Ende eines solchen Unrechtssystems bleibt, ist die Frage nach dem Umgang mit der Vergangenheit. Die drei grundlegenden Möglichkeiten der Vergangenheitsbewältigung sind die rein justiziare Aufarbeitung, eine Generalamnestie oder ein drittes Modell, das zum Ziel hat, die Vorteile der beiden anderen Strategien zu vereinen. In Südafrika versuchte man, auch als Kompromiss aller Beteiligter, diesen dritten Weg mit der Einrichtung der Wahrheits- und Versöhnungskommission, die mittlerweile weltweit zum Sinnbild dieser Form der Vergangenheitsbewältigung geworden ist. Das Ziel der Studie war dabei zu klären: War die Wahrheits- und Versöhnungskommission in Südafrika als Strategie der Vergangenheitsbewältigung erfolgreich?
Im Einzelnen widmete sich die TRC in drei Hauptausschüssen (Menschenrechtsausschuss, Amnestieausschuss und Wiedergutmachungsausschuss) den folgenden Zielen: Aufklärung der Menschenrechtsverletzungen, Klärung des Verbleibs verschwundener Personen, Klärung dessen, was während der Apartheid und der Übergangsphase zerstört wurde um die Verbrechen zu verschleiern, Wiedergutmachung für die Opfer und Amnestierung der Täter bei politisch motivierten Taten. Dieser letzte Punkt war jedoch an die völlige Offenlegung der Tat und ein öffentliches Eingeständnis gebunden.
Zum einen zeigt die Analyse die großen Erfolge der Wahrheits- und Versöhnungskommission in Südafrika. Sie hat mehr und vor allem genauere Informationen über die Apartheid zusammengetragen, als je eine andere Untersuchung es geschafft hat. Mit der starken Beteiligung der Bevölkerung am Prozess der Aufklärung konnte sie einen Prozess in Gang bringen, der zur Entstehung einer neuen Menschenrechtskultur beitrug und auch einen Anstoß zur Versöhnung gab. Durch die intensive Aufarbeitung der Vergangenheit in einem gesamtgesellschaftlichen Prozess schaffte es die TRC auch, eine politische Kultur anzuregen, die unentbehrlich ist, will man nach einem Unrechtssystem eine demokratische Zukunft aufbauen. Das Verständnis oder zumindest eine Ahnung von dem was Menschenrechtsverletzungen bedeuten, wurde in dieser Zeit tief im Bewusstsein der meisten Südafrikaner verankert. Es wurde eine „operative Wahrheit“ geschaffen, die, wenn auch unter Protesten aller Parteien, letztlich anerkannt wurde und somit ein zukünftiges Leugnen der Apartheidsverbrechen unmöglich machte. Aber auch die Befreiungsbewegungen mussten brutale Verbrechen eingestehen.
Zum anderen wird ebenso deutlich, dass die gestellten Anforderungen bei weitem zu hoch waren. Obwohl große Bereiche der alltäglichen Apartheid komplett unberücksichtigt blieben. Bei der Wahrheitsfindung wurde deutlich, dass die drei Ausschüsse weit von einer wirklichen Aufklärung der Untaten der Apartheid entfernt blieben. Auch in Bezug auf die Täter erreichte die Kommission nur zum Teil ihre Ziele. Verglichen mit den aufgeklärten Verbrechen, beantragte nur ein Bruchteil der Täter Amnestie. Die Logik, durch den Anreiz der Straffreiheit eine rege Beteiligung der Täter am Aufklärungsprozess zu erreichen, ging nicht auf. Bei der Wiedergutmachung zeigte sich, dass es einer der größten Konstruktionsfehler der TRC war, die Umsetzung der Entschädigungen dem Parlament und der Regierung zu überlassen. Der Wiedergutmachungsausschuss erarbeitete lediglich Vorschläge an den Präsidenten. Die wurden jedoch nie in dieser Form umgesetzt und stellten damit die TRC als Ganze bei Teilen der schwarzen und farbigen Bevölkerung in Frage.
Einen direkten Zusammenhang zwischen der TRC und einer Befriedung der Bevölkerung herzustellen, wäre vermessen. Noch immer ist Südafrika ein gespaltenes Land. Ähnliches gilt bei der Legitimierung und Konsolidierung der neuen demokratischen Ordnung. Auch hier ist die Kommission ein Baustein, auf den nicht verzichtet werden konnte. Ihr diesen Erfolg, und es ist ein Erfolg im heutigen Südafrika, alleine zuzuschreiben, wäre eine extreme Überschätzung ihrer Möglichkeiten. Unterm Strich bleibt: Die TRC konnte nicht all ihre Ziele erreichen, aber sie hat sich gerade unter den Voraussetzungen des Übergangsprozesses als eine sinnvolle Form der Vergangenheitsbewältigung erwiesen, die grundlegend wichtige Ergebnisse erarbeiten konnte. Sie kann somit trotz der Berücksichtigung einer Vielzahl von Problemen als Erfolg gewertet werden.Apartheid in South Africa was a system of injustice. Atrocities committed by the regime were e.g. massacres, torture, murder, deprivation of personal liberty, forced relocation, economical and daily discrimination. After the existence of such an unjust system, the question of how to deal with the past remains. Basically there are three possibilities. Firstly the judicial approach, secondly a general pardon and finally a third model of coping with the past, which has the aim to combine the advantages of the first two strategies. In South Africa all parties involved tried to find such a third model as a compromise. The Truth- and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established and has become a symbol of this way of dealing with the past by now. The aim of the survey was to find out, weather the TRC in South Africa was successful as strategy of dealing with the past. In detail the TRC dealt in three main committees (Human Rights Violations Committee, Amnesty Committee, Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee) with the following goals: Clarification of the human rights violations, clarification of the fate of missing people, clarification of what has been destroyed during Apartheid and in the transitional period in order to camouflage the crimes, compensation for the victims and giving amnesty to perpetrators if their crimes have had a political motivation. This last point was tied to an entire disclosure of the crime and a public confession. On the one hand the survey shows the great successes of the TRC in South Africa. The commission brought up more, and - above all - more detailed information about the Apartheid, than any other investigation ever has before. Due to the strong participation of the population in the process of clarification, the TRC was able to stir up a process, which contributed to the emergence of a new culture and to an understanding of human rights and therefore gave an impetus to reconciliation. As a result of the intensive debate about the past in a process that involved the whole society, the TRC achieved to encourage a political culture, which is indispensable for the development of a democratic society after the experience of a system of injustice. Almost every South African gained an understanding, or at least an imagination, of what is meant by human rights violations. An “operational truth” was established, which was widely acknowledged, despite the protest of all parties. A denial of the crimes of Apartheid became impossible. But the liberation movement had to admit brutal crimes as well. On the other hand it becomes clear, that the contrived tasks were far too high, even though many parts of daily Apartheid were ignored completely. The commission did not succeed in clarifying all crimes of Apartheid. Also concerning the perpetrators, the commission did only partly achieve its goals. Compared to the clarified crimes, only a fractional amount of the perpetrators applied for amnesty. The idea, that many perpetrators would participate in the clarification-process with the perspective of being amnestied did not work out. Concerning the reparation, the TRC showed one of its most basic constructional defects. The Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee developed suggestions, which were then never implemented by the president in the way the committee had intended. This made many black and coloured people doubt the work of the commission as a whole. There is no direct relation between the TRC and a pacification of the population. South Africa still is a divided country. The same has to be said about the legitimation and consolidation of the new democratic order. The commission made a contribution that could not be set aside. But to refer this succes, and it is a succes in today’s South Africa, only to the TRC, would be a total overestimation of its possibilities. What remains is: The TRC could not achieve all its goals. Nevertheless, it proved to be a sensible form of dealing with the past. Above all, under the preconditions of a transitional process, it came to important results. Despite many problems, the commission can be judged as a success.