Theorizing Postconflict Reconciliation Agonism Restitution And Repair First Alexander Hirsch by Alexander Hirsch 9780415781732, 0415781736, 2011026487 instant download after payment.

‘What does it mean to promote reconciliation in response to violent conflict? When do practices of reconciliation function to obfuscate past wrongs, silence victims, or neutralize political dissent? These are urgent questions, as institutions and policies designed to alleviate political conflict are currently being developed across the globe. Against the view that reconciliation entails social harmony and consensus, this volume offers an agonistic alternative—one that affirms dissensus and ongoing contestation. These essays explore, and powerfully unsettle, prevailing assumptions regarding the role of forgiveness, tolerance, healing, memorializing, and responsibility, as responses to past violence. Drawing on a dazzling array of theoretical resources, including thinkers such as Giorgio Agamben, Jean Améry, Walter Benjamin, and Walt Whitman, these essays are also grounded in, and informed by, specific cases and institutions. This collection is not only a magnificent work of political theory, but also a brilliant and timely innovation in scholarship on transitional justice.’  Bronwyn Leebaw, Associate Professor of Political Science,