Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid South Africa

An assessment of the transitional processes aimed at creating a stable and just society in South Africa.

François du Bois (Edited by), Antje du Bois-Pedain (Edited by)

9780521882057, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 January 2009

334 pages, 3 tables
23.5 x 15.5 x 2 cm, 0.65 kg

Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid South Africa assesses the transitional processes under way since the early 1990s to create a stable and just society. Change in South Africa is often credited to the efforts of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), but the work of this institution forms but a facet of a much broader picture. This book looks at the steps which accompanied and followed the TRC's activities, such as land restitution, institutional reforms and social and cultural initiatives. Thematically, it interlinks the TRC's concerns over truth and reconciliation with an analysis of the concepts of justice, accountability, harm and reconciliation and with competing perceptions of what these notions entail in the South African context. Bringing together international and South African scholars whose work has focused on these themes, the contributions provide a cohesive and inspiring analysis of South Africa's response to its unjust past.

Introduction François du Bois and Antje du Bois-Pedain
1. Reconciliation as surrender: configurations of responsibility and memory Emilios Christodoulidis and Scott Veitch
2. Radical forgiveness: transforming traumatic memory beyond Hannah Arendt Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
3. Communicating criminal and political responsibility in the TRC process Antje du Bois-Pedain
4. The contribution of criminal justice Volker Nerlich
5. Reparation and the forms of justice François du Bois
6. Land restitution and reconciliation in South Africa Theunis Roux
7. For justice and reconciliation to come: big business, the TRC and the demand for material reparation in South Africa Jaco Barnard-Naudé
8. Transition, forgiveness and citizenship: the TRC and the social construction of forgiveness Stéphane Leman-Langlois and Clifford Shearing
9. The evolving legitimacy of the South African constitutional court James L. Gibson
10. Justice and the art of reconciliation Carrol Clarkson
11. Post-conflict justice and the reconciliatory paradigm: the South African experience François du Bois and Antje du Bois-Pedain.

Subject Areas: Law [L], Human rights [JPVH], Political science & theory [JPA]