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The Guilt of Nations - Restitution and Negotiating Historical Injustices (Hardcover, 1st ed) Loot Price: R588
Discovery Miles 5 880
You Save: R139 (19%)
The Guilt of Nations - Restitution and Negotiating Historical Injustices (Hardcover, 1st ed): Elazar Barkan

The Guilt of Nations - Restitution and Negotiating Historical Injustices (Hardcover, 1st ed)

Elazar Barkan

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List price R727 Loot Price R588 Discovery Miles 5 880 You Save R139 (19%)

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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.

General

Imprint: W W Norton & Co Inc
Country of origin: United States
Release date: August 2000
First published: May 2000
Authors: Elazar Barkan
Dimensions: 244 x 165 x 38mm (L x W x T)
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 464
Edition: 1st ed
ISBN-13: 978-0-393-04886-5
Categories: Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Peace studies > General
Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > International relations > General
Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Other warfare & defence issues > War crimes > General
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LSN: 0-393-04886-1
Barcode: 9780393048865

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