The Politics of Acknowledgement
Truth Commissions in Uganda and Haiti
- Publisher
- UBC Press
- Initial publish date
- Jan 2011
- Subjects
- Civil Rights, Human Rights
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9780774818483
- Publish Date
- Jan 2011
- List Price
- $125.00
Library Ordering Options
Description
Human rights violations leave deep scars on people, societies, and nations. Rights groups argue that resolving past violence is necessary for a peaceful future. But how can nations ensure that instruments of transitional justice are the best path to reconciliation? This book develops a theoretical framework – a framework of acknowledgement – to evaluate truth commissions. Analysis of the difficulties encountered and the ultimate failure of truth commissions in Uganda and Haiti reveals that acknowledgement of past violence – by both victims and perpetrators – must come before goals such as forgiveness and social cohesion if reconciliation is to be achieved.
About the author
Joanna R. Quinn is assistant professor of political science, and co-director, Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict Research Group, The University of Western Ontario.