Compensation paid by one group of people to another in the name of
past wrongs is a timely topic. Whether talking about reparations
made to Jewish families by Swiss banks, the package of land and
fishing rights awarded to the Maori of New Zealand or the perennial
and thorny problems of appalling hardship and institutional racism
endured by African-Americans during the slavery era and since, the
issues go beyond mere transactions of cash or title deeds to
embrace issues of racism, conscience and philosophy. In today's
'compensation culture', it is easy to make the assumption that
economic restitution fulfils the function of paying individuals or
groups for their distress, and little else. Yet Eleazar Barkan
looks beyond the material to assess the benefits that restitution
has for those who are forced to pay for their historical wrongs.
Sometimes the process itself of admitting guilt, especially when
the collective consciousness has been one of denial - the Japanese
attitude towards the Korean 'comfort women' in the Second World
War, for example - has important consequences for global human
rightsand international relations. The author takes a close,
unsentimental look at the processes involved in determining
victimhood, and assesses how nations on both sides of the
restitution negotiations are redefined in terms of their global
identities. Races who have suffered genocide during war - and
peace; countries whose indigenous peoples have been dispossessed;
ethnic groups who have been suspected of treason and interned:
Barkan uses concrete examples of all of these to bring to life
abstract political and philosophical questions about right, wrong,
and our obligations to our countries and to the wider international
community. (Kirkus UK)
How do nations and aggrieved parties, in the wake of heinous crimes
and horrible injustices, make amends in a way that acknowledges
wrongdoing and redefines future interactions? How does the growing
practice of negotiating restitution restore a sense of morality and
enhance prospects for world peace? Where has restitution worked and
where has it not? The Guilt of Nations explores this increasingly
important dynamic in world politics today. Beyond its moral
implications, restitution reflects a critical shift in political
and economic bargaining. While preserving individual rights,
restitution also enables victimized groups to receive growing
recognition as groups. Elazar Barkan traces instances of historical
crimes, such as the incarceration of Japanese Americans in the
United States during World War II, the sexual abuse of "comfort
women" by Japanese soldiers, and the recent controversy over the
financial dealings between Swiss banks and Nazi Germany. He argues
that, as countries including the United States, Australia, and New
Zealand come to recognize past injustices toward indigenous peoples
within their borders, both governments and minority groups are
compelled to redress the history of colonialism and redefine
national identity. While restitution is not a panacea, this
ever-spreading trend represents a new moral order in world
politics.
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