The Politics of Reparations and Apologies

The Politics of Reparations and Apologies PDF Author: Stephanie Wolfe
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461491851
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
​​​​​​ The Politics of Reparations and Apologies examines the evolution and dynamics of reparation politics and justice. The volume introduces the key concepts, theories, and terms associated with social movements and in particular, the redress and reparation movement (RRM). Drawing from RRMs that have their foundation in World War II--the German genocides, the United States internments, and the Japanese “comfort women” system-- the volume explores each case study’s relative success or failure in achieving its goals and argues that there are overarching trends that can explain success and failure more generally in the RRM movement. Using the backdrop of international criminal law and normative concepts of reparations, the volume establishes and analyzes the roles of reparations and apologies in obtaining transitional justice. In each case study, there is a detailed rundown of the political actions that were attempted to obtain redress and reparation for the victims, of how successful the attempts were, and of the crucial factors which influenced the relative success or failure. Crucially, the volume offers a comparative framework of the actions that contribute to a successful outcome for transitional justice. With the increasing normative expectation of justice in post-conflict situations, this volume is a valuable resource for researchers in international affairs, human rights, political science, and conflict studies.

The Politics of Reparations and Apologies

The Politics of Reparations and Apologies PDF Author: Stephanie Wolfe
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461491851
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 379

Get Book

Book Description
​​​​​​ The Politics of Reparations and Apologies examines the evolution and dynamics of reparation politics and justice. The volume introduces the key concepts, theories, and terms associated with social movements and in particular, the redress and reparation movement (RRM). Drawing from RRMs that have their foundation in World War II--the German genocides, the United States internments, and the Japanese “comfort women” system-- the volume explores each case study’s relative success or failure in achieving its goals and argues that there are overarching trends that can explain success and failure more generally in the RRM movement. Using the backdrop of international criminal law and normative concepts of reparations, the volume establishes and analyzes the roles of reparations and apologies in obtaining transitional justice. In each case study, there is a detailed rundown of the political actions that were attempted to obtain redress and reparation for the victims, of how successful the attempts were, and of the crucial factors which influenced the relative success or failure. Crucially, the volume offers a comparative framework of the actions that contribute to a successful outcome for transitional justice. With the increasing normative expectation of justice in post-conflict situations, this volume is a valuable resource for researchers in international affairs, human rights, political science, and conflict studies.

When Sorry Isn't Enough

When Sorry Isn't Enough PDF Author: Roy L. Brooks
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814709044
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
"How much compensation ought to be paid to a woman who was raped 7,500 times? What would the members of the Commission want for their daughters if their daughters had been raped even once?" —Karen Parker, speaking before the U.N. Commission on Human Rights Seemingly every week, a new question arises relative to the current worldwide ferment over human injustices. Why does the U.S. offer $20,000 atonement money to Japanese Americans relocated to concentration camps during World War II, while not even apologizing to African Americans for 250 years of human bondage and another century of institutionalized discrimination? How can the U.S. and Canada best grapple with the genocidal campaigns against Native Americans on which their countries were founded? How should Japan make amends to Korean "comfort women" sexually enslaved during World War II? Why does South Africa deem it necessary to grant amnesty to whites who tortured and murdered blacks under apartheid? Is Germany's highly praised redress program, which has paid billions of dollars to Jews worldwide, a success, and, as such, an example for others? More generally, is compensation for a historical wrong dangerous "blood money" that allows a nation to wash its hands forever of its responsibility to those it has injured? A rich collection of essays from leading scholars, pundits, activists, and political leaders the world over, many written expressly for this volume, When Sorry Isn't Enough also includes the voices of the victims of some of the world's worst atrocities, thereby providing a panoramic perspective on an international controversy often marked more by heat than reason.

Making Whole what Has Been Smashed

Making Whole what Has Been Smashed PDF Author: John Torpey
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674019430
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
This book explores the recent spread of political efforts to rectify past injustices. Although it recognizes that reparations campaigns may lead to improved well-being of victims and to reconciliation among former antagonists, it examines the extent to which concern with the past may depart from the future orientation of progressive politics.

Atonement and Forgiveness

Atonement and Forgiveness PDF Author: Roy L. Brooks
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520343409
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
Roy L. Brooks reframes one of the most important, controversial, and misunderstood issues of our time in this far-reaching reassessment of the growing debate on black reparation. Atonement and Forgiveness shifts the focus of the issue from the backward-looking question of compensation for victims to a more forward-looking racial reconciliation. Offering a comprehensive discussion of the history of the black redress movement, this book puts forward a powerful new plan for repairing the damaged relationship between the federal government and black Americans in the aftermath of 240 years of slavery and another 100 years of government-sanctioned racial segregation. Key to Brooks's vision is the government's clear signal that it understands the magnitude of the atrocity it committed against an innocent people, that it takes full responsibility, and that it publicly requests forgiveness—in other words, that it apologizes. The government must make that apology believable, Brooks explains, by a tangible act that turns the rhetoric of apology into a meaningful, material reality, that is, by reparation. Apology and reparation together constitute atonement. Atonement, in turn, imposes a reciprocal civic obligation on black Americans to forgive, which allows black Americans to start relinquishing racial resentment and to begin trusting the government's commitment to racial equality. Brooks's bold proposal situates the argument for reparations within a larger, international framework—namely, a post-Holocaust vision of government responsibility for genocide, slavery, apartheid, and similar acts of injustice. Atonement and Forgiveness makes a passionate, convincing case that only with this spirit of heightened morality, identity, egalitarianism, and restorative justice can genuine racial reconciliation take place in America.

Sins Of The Parents

Sins Of The Parents PDF Author: Brian Weiner
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1439906149
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Should governments apologize for past wrongs done in their name?

Sorry States

Sorry States PDF Author: Jennifer Lind
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801462276
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Governments increasingly offer or demand apologies for past human rights abuses, and it is widely believed that such expressions of contrition are necessary to promote reconciliation between former adversaries. The post-World War II experiences of Japan and Germany suggest that international apologies have powerful healing effects when they are offered, and poisonous effects when withheld. West Germany made extensive efforts to atone for wartime crimes-formal apologies, monuments to victims of the Nazis, and candid history textbooks; Bonn successfully reconciled with its wartime enemies. By contrast, Tokyo has made few and unsatisfying apologies and approves school textbooks that whitewash wartime atrocities. Japanese leaders worship at the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors war criminals among Japan's war dead. Relations between Japan and its neighbors remain tense. Examining the cases of South Korean relations with Japan and of French relations with Germany, Jennifer Lind demonstrates that denials of past atrocities fuel distrust and inhibit international reconciliation. In Sorry States, she argues that a country's acknowledgment of past misdeeds is essential for promoting trust and reconciliation after war. However, Lind challenges the conventional wisdom by showing that many countries have been able to reconcile without much in the way of apologies or reparations. Contrition can be highly controversial and is likely to cause a domestic backlash that alarms—rather than assuages—outside observers. Apologies and other such polarizing gestures are thus unlikely to soothe relations after conflict, Lind finds, and remembrance that is less accusatory-conducted bilaterally or in multilateral settings-holds the most promise for international reconciliation.

States of apology

States of apology PDF Author: Michael Cunningham
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 184779940X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
This book offers a critical consideration of the apology in politics. It provides a detailed overview of all aspects of the phenomenon of the apology made by states, which has increased significantly since the mid-1980s. It is the product of a decade’s research and reflection on the subject and thus provides a complete coverage of all the key debates and features. States of apology evaluates the relationship between the personal apology and the apology in politics, the political and cultural factors behind its emergence and the philosophical problems generated by the state apologising and in particular the question of responsibility across generations. The book also considers the dynamics of domestic apologies and the relationship of the apology to the field of international relations. It is written in a clear and jargon-free style which will make it accessible to both students and non-students alike.

Taking Wrongs Seriously

Taking Wrongs Seriously PDF Author: Elazar Barkan
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804752251
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
This multi-disciplinary collection examines the recent wave of political apologies for acts of past injustice.

Healing Traditions

Healing Traditions PDF Author: Laurence J. Kirmayer
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 077485863X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 527

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Book Description
Aboriginal peoples in Canada have diverse cultures but share common social and political challenges that have contributed to their experiences of health and illness. This collection addresses the origins of mental health and social problems and the emergence of culturally responsive approaches to services and health promotion. Healing Traditions is not a handbook of practice but a resource for thinking critically about current issues in the mental health of indigenous peoples. Cross-cutting themes include: the impact of colonialism, sedentarization, and forced assimilation; the importance of land for indigenous identity and an ecocentric self; and processes of healing and spirituality as sources of resilience.

The Politics of Official Apologies

The Politics of Official Apologies PDF Author: Melissa Nobles
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139468189
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 13

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Book Description
Intense interest in past injustice lies at the centre of contemporary world politics. Most scholarly and public attention has focused on truth commissions, trials, lustration, and other related decisions, following political transitions. This book examines the political uses of official apologies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. It explores why minority groups demand such apologies and why governments do or do not offer them. Nobles argues that apologies can help to alter the terms and meanings of national membership. Minority groups demand apologies in order to focus attention on historical injustices. Similarly, state actors support apologies for ideological and moral reasons, driven by their support of group rights, responsiveness to group demands, and belief that acknowledgment is due. Apologies, as employed by political actors, play an important, if underappreciated, role in bringing certain views about history and moral obligation to bear in public life.