The forgiveness dilemma: emotions and justice at the Khmer Rouge tribunal

Jeffery, Renée

doi:10.1080/10357718.2014.939140

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…In the following discussion, I pay close attention to how Manich Msamah enacted an affect of "unforgiveness" in resistance to the bill. Following recent critical transitional justice literature (Brudholm 2008;Jeffrey 2015;Mihai 2016), I argue unforgiveness should not be viewed as politically and socially unhelpful but rather as an affect that enabled ordinary citizens to develop critical and productive relations to the question of post-repressive justice in Tunisia. In doing so, I locate activists' expressions of unforgiveness within the particular, contextual experience of post-overthrow Tunisia and thus develop a "thicker" (McEvoy 2007) conception of the local actors and forms of knowledge that inform, and intervene in, questions of justice in certain socio-historical contexts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“Why don’t I forgive? They didn’t ask for forgiveness!”: Manich Msamah and Tunisia’s Politics of Unforgiveness

Rigg

2022

Comp Stud Soc Hist

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Recent transitional justice scholarship has explored the role of emotions during periods of political transition. Scholars have taken negative emotions as both legitimate responses to past crimes and as supports to the pursuit of justice in the present. This paper argues that feelings circulate across a wide array of individuals, things, and processes that often sit apart from the formal, judicial spaces of transitional justice. To make this argument, I consider the Tunisian campaign Manich Msamah (I Do Not Forgive) and its articulation of an affect of unforgiveness in resistance to the proposed Economic and Financial Reconciliation Law. Formed in 2015, the campaign came about in response to the law and efforts, under the pretext of “reconciliation,” to return to public life figures from the repressive regime of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Drawing on affect theory, I argue that unforgiveness was stuck to particular individuals (figures from the old regime and circulated between a community of unforgiving activists), things (public spaces, posters, T-shirts and the ephemera of protest) and processes (accountability and substantive forms of justice). I argue that an affect of unforgiveness thus aided activists not only in their resistance to state-led reconciliation but also helped imagine alternative paths to justice in Tunisia.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“Why don’t I forgive? They didn’t ask for forgiveness!”: Manich Msamah and Tunisia’s Politics of Unforgiveness

Rigg

2022

Comp Stud Soc Hist

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“…For example, revisiting these can amplify distress and further expose or violate victims (Stein et al, 2008). In addition, there may be pressure on survivors to "forgive" and disappointment with slow pace of change or lack of compensatory measures (Jeffery, 2015). McEvoy and McConnachie (2013) also highlight the centrality of attributing blame and victimhood, which might not always be helpful.…”

Section: What Is Tandr?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the case for truth and reconciliation in mental health services

Spandler

McKeown

2017

MHRJ

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the case for a truth and reconciliation (T&R) process in the context of mental health services. Design/methodology/approach The approach is a conceptual review of T&R approaches; a consideration of why they are important; and how they might be applied in the context of mental health services and psychiatry. First, the paper sets out a case for T&R in psychiatry, giving some recent examples of how this might work in practice. Then it outlines potential objections which complicate any simplistic adoption of T&R in this context. Findings In the absence of an officially sanctioned T&R process a grassroots reparative initiative in mental health services may be an innovative bottom-up approach to transitional justice. This would bring together service users, survivors and refusers of services, with staff who work/ed in them, to begin the work of healing the hurtful effects of experiences in the system. Originality/value This is the first paper in a peer-reviewed journal to explore the case for T&R in mental health services. The authors describe an innovative T&R process as an important transitional step towards accomplishing reparation and justice by acknowledging the breadth and depth of service user and survivor grievances. This may be a precondition for effective alliances between workers and service users/survivors. As a result, new forms of dialogic communication and horizontal democracy might emerge that could sustain future alliances and prefigure the social relations necessary for more humane mental health services.

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“…In principle, the general processes, mechanisms, and outcomes of emotion sharing largely support the role that TJ assigns to the presence of victims, their statements, and their expressions of emotions. Reports from the courtrooms of international tribunals and from truth commissions provide compelling examples of how victims or perpetrators perceive TJ procedures as a space to share emotions, and actively engage in the process (Jeffery, 2014, p. 45; Minow, 1998, p. 331; Stover, 2004, p. 106; Stover, Balthazard, & Koenig, 2011). Most of the emotions shared in TJ procedures are “negative emotions,” which instigate social interaction by story-telling and conversation (Rimé, 2009, p. 62, 75ff.).…”

Section: The Legal Setting As Real-world Context: Supporting and Limimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The disjunction in the sharing of emotions between victims, who are reticent to give voice to the most distressing traumatic experiences, and perpetrators, who withhold expressions of shame and guilt, become particularly visible in what Jeffery (2014) describes as the “forgiveness dilemma.” Victims are demanding that expressions of guilt, remorse, and shame are authentic and true emotions. Rituals of apologies are rejected (Jeffery, 2011), as are purely instrumental apologies (Subotić, 2012).…”

Section: A Built-in Dilemma: Emotion Sharing Between Victims and Perpmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Emotion Dynamics of Transitional Justice: An Emotion Sharing Perspective

Karstedt

2015

Emotion Review

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Since the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal, transitional justice (TJ) procedures have been cast in terms of emotion: disgust, horror, revenge, and remorse. For contemporary TJ, claims are made that it contributes to the emotional recovery of individual victims and conflict-torn societies after mass atrocity crimes. Empirical support for such claims is mixed at best. This article proposes a framework of “emotion sharing” in order to enhance our understanding of the emotion dynamics in TJ settings. It will focus on processes of emotion sharing in TJ fora, and discuss the specific limitations and conditions of the TJ settings in which emotion sharing takes place. Conclusions are drawn as to the claims, realities, and prospects of emotion dynamics in TJ fora.

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The forgiveness dilemma: emotions and justice at the Khmer Rouge tribunal

Cited by 13 publications

References 25 publications

“Why don’t I forgive? They didn’t ask for forgiveness!”: Manich Msamah and Tunisia’s Politics of Unforgiveness

“Why don’t I forgive? They didn’t ask for forgiveness!”: Manich Msamah and Tunisia’s Politics of Unforgiveness

Exploring the case for truth and reconciliation in mental health services

The Emotion Dynamics of Transitional Justice: An Emotion Sharing Perspective

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