The South African Truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) could do no more than make a contribution to political reconciliation and nation-building - requiring government, business, civil society and South Africans generally to take this process forward. Truth & Reconciliation In South Africa: 10 Years On provides a realistic assessment of what a TRC can reasonably accomplish and provides an audit of the response of government and other agencies to the unfinished business of the Commission.

This title features an edited transcript of a public symposium chaired by Tim Modise with participation from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Yasmin Sooka and several participants in the TRC's victim hearings. It also contains articles by leading researchers, activists and government officials tasked with implementing the TRC recommendations.

It examines the complexities of translation and interpretation of personal testimonies in TRC sessions. It also reflects on the role of media, art and cultural exponents who grappled with South Africa's past.

Reconciliation is an open and urgent question. We do not agree about what reconciliation means, or how it works. We certainly do not agree about what it has done or the ways in which it can be brought to bear on the problems that confront South Africa today. In short, reconciliation keeps us off balance. In the balance opens a space for critical and imaginative reflection on the contested legacy, contemporary meanings, and future possibilities of reconciliation in South Africa. With essays from a diverse and leading set of commentators, the title aims to move beyond current thinking about reconciliation. Presenting the good news with the bad, the staunch advocates of reconciliation along with its sharpest critics, it seeks to provide individuals, citizens and publics with ideas about how and why they might wish to undertake their own discussions and deliberations about the meaning and value of reconciliation. Direct and thought-provoking, the essays here offer staunch defenses and pointed criticisms of reconciliation. Together, they challenge the conventional wisdom and sound an important call: once again, it is time to ask after reconciliation's meaning, practice and value.