Reconciliation for Realists

Abstract

As the millennium draws to a close, there appears to be a global frenzy to balance moral ledgers. Talk of apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation is everywhere. The Canadian government recently made a "solemn offer of reconciliation," backed up by a $250 million "healing fund," to that country’s 1.3 million Aboriginal people; Australians lined up to put their names in a "sorry book" offering personal apologies for an earlier state policy that removed Aboriginal children from their families; and President Kim Dae Jung formally accepted Japan’s written apology for harms caused during its 35-year occupation of South Korea. In what may be the most familiar example, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) held extensive public hearings about abuses committed during the apartheid era, issued a final report, and continues to rule on petitions for amnesty from former security officials and African National Congress members who have confessed to politically motivated crimes.