Panaceas After Pandemonium? Truth Commissions in the Wake of Protracted Conflicts

Heine, Jorge; Turcotte, Joseph F.

doi:10.1163/19426720-02103001

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…While the TRC was assigned a tall order, it seems to have been reasonably successful in its contribution to a peaceful transition from apartheid and civil war to a functioning democracy (Gibson, 2004). The TRC contributed to a national conversation that promoted healing, named perpetrators, and privileged victims' voices in the shaping of a new official national history (Buikema, 2012;Heine and Turcotte, 2015). Crafting a new national narrative (Andrews, 2003), indeed, is regarded as one of the key benefits of the TRC.…”

Section: A Snapshot Of the Trcmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the TRC's purposefully impartial approach (Rose, 2015) (which emerged from the constrained circumstances under which it was created) resulted in producing false moral equivalents as all parties were subjected to equal scrutiny and equal apportioning of blame (Allais, 2012;Bevernage, 2012;Moon, 2006;Wright, 2017). Many victims felt that perpetrators enjoyed impunity, failed adequately to accept responsibility and that amnesty was not a fitting response to the egregious acts committed by perpetrators (Allais, 2012;Andrews, 2003;Heine and Turcotte, 2015); meanwhile, victims did not receive sufficient or timely restitution (Allais, 2012;Clark, 2012).…”

Section: A Snapshot Of the Trcmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Settler Colonialism and the South African TRC: Ambivalent Denial and Democratisation Without Decolonisation

Park

2021

Social & Legal Studies

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In the quarter-century since it began its work, the South African TRC has been endlessly debated. At the same time, a field of study emerged centred on settler colonialism, and settler colonial analyses have become established in transitional justice. South Africa’s TRC, however, has escaped examination through the lens of settler colonialism. Typically, settler colonialism in South Africa is treated as an historical phase; however, recent scholarship emphasises South Africa’s colonial present. Following these insights, this article: (1) establishes the relevance of a settler colonial lens for interpreting the South African TRC by demonstrating the settler colonialism of apartheid; (2) provides an empirical examination of the TRC’s Report. The Report acknowledges settler colonialism while advancing a series of denials, producing ‘ambivalent denial’; (3) explores the implications of ambivalent denial. Specifically, ambivalent denial contributes to democratisation without decolonisation by enabling settler denial and failing to address settler colonial structures.

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