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Home Previous Editions 2006 March 2006 Edition Book Review: Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice After Civil Conflict

Book Review: Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice After Civil Conflict

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Issues of justice and peace haunt countries emerging from or struggling with violent conflict. This volume of essays explores issues of forgiveness, remembering the past, restorative justice and transitional justice.
by Nigel Biggar. Washington, DC. Georgetown University Press. ISBN: 0878403949.

In recent years, the topic of transitional states and justice has become quite fashionable. The amount of literature on the subject continues to grow considerably. At the same time, it remains a critical topic in a world where situations and questions of intra-state injustice, conflict, and transition persist.

In this context, a conference was held in September 1998 at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, England, with the title “Burying the Past: Justice, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation in the Politics of South Africa, Guatemala, East Germany, and Northern Oreland.” A collection of essays on subjects from the conference came out prior to this book. This 2003 edition expands and updates the essays.

Experts from around the world participated in the conference and the writing of chapters in the book. The chapters are organized into three overarching categories:

  • fundamental ethical concepts
  • significant dimensions or levels of burying the past
  • different historical cases or experiences of injustice and transition.

In addressing issues of transitional justice, the overall aim in the book is to combine moral-philosophical deliberation with historical and social-scientific description, with particular emphasis on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Northern Ireland. To assist the reader, the book includes descriptions of the contributors and an index.

Essays in the Volume include:



Gregory Strong
March 2006

Last modified 2006-02-27 13:38

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