Effective peace agreements are rarely accomplished by idealists. The process of moving from situations of entrenched oppression, armed conflict, open warfare, and mass atrocities toward peace and reconciliation requires a series of small steps and compromises to open the way for the kind of dialogue and negotiation that make political stability, the beginning of democracy, and the rule of law a possibility.

For over forty years, Charles Villa-Vicencio has been on the front lines of Africa's battle for racial equality. In "Walk with Us and Listen," he argues that reconciliation needs honest talk to promote trust building and enable former enemies and adversaries to explore joint solutions to the cause of their conflicts. He offers a critical assessment of the South African experiment in transitional justice as captured in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and considers the influence of "ubuntu," in which individuals are defined by their relationships, and other traditional African models of reconciliation. Political reconciliation is offered as a cautious model against which transitional politics needs to be measured. Villa-Vicencio challenges those who stress the obligation to prosecute those allegedly guilty of gross violation of human rights, replacing this call with the need for more complementarity between the International Criminal Court and African mechanisms to achieve the greater goals of justice and peace building.

Offers fresh insights on the so-called 'justice versus peace' dilemma, examining the challenges and prospects for promoting both peace and accountability, specifically in African countries affected by conflict or political violence. The chapters in this volume consider a wide range of approaches to accountability and peacebuilding. These include not only domestic courts and tribunals, hybrid tribunals, or the International Criminal Court, but also truth commissions and informal or non-state justice and conflict resolution processes. Taken together, they demonstrate the wealth of experiences and experimentation in transitional justice processes on the continent. CHANDRA LEKHA SRIRAM is Professor of Human Rights at the School of Law, University of East London, United Kingdom. She is also the Chair of the International Studies Association Human Rights Section and consults on issues of governance and conflict prevention for the United Nations Development Programme. SUREN PILLAY is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Studies at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, and a Senior Research Specialistin the Democracy and Governance programme of the Human Sciences Research Council. Southern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana & Namibia): University of KwaZulu-Natal Press

The African Renaissance and the Afro-Arab Spring addresses the often unspoken connection between the powerful call for a political-cultural renaissance that emerged with the end of South African apartheid and the popular revolts of 2011 that dramatically remade the landscape in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. Looking between southern and northern Africa, the transcontinental line from Cape to Cairo that for so long supported colonialism, its chapters explore the deep roots of these two decisive events and demonstrate how they are linked by shared opposition to legacies of political, economic, and cultural subjugation. As they work from African, Islamic, and Western perspectives, the book's contributors shed important light on a continent's difficult history and undertake a critical conversation about whether and how the desire for radical change holds the possibility of a new beginning for Africa, a beginning that may well reshape the contours of global affairs.

The question of reparation remains. As South Africa prepares to enter its second decade of democracy, there are no easy answers about how to best repair the damage inflicted by the past. The wounds are deep and they haunt. If left unresolved, apartheid's legacy of inequality may come to thwart ongoing efforts to build a culture of human rights, nurture democratic politics, and move forward with the project of reconciliation. A difficult concept and an even more difficult process, reparation in South Africa appears to require a sustained combination of resources, will power and committed dialogue. Beginning with a detailed analysis of the TRC's recommendations for reparation and the ensuing public debate over their implementation, To Repair the Irreparable features over twenty essays from leading commentators about the past, present, and future of reparation in South Africa. What are the benefits and limits of current reparation policy? How can South Africa best balance the demands of reparation, democracy-building and justice? How does the South African experience contribute to international debates over reparation? What is the best way to resolve ongoing debates over land redistribution, the reconstruction of civil society, the promise of restorative justice, and the legal disputes that surround calls for reparation? These problems are urgent. For both citizen and scholar, this book makes an important case for why reparation matters and offers a timely discussion of how South Africa can best continue the work of reconstruction.

The African Renaissance and the Afro-Arab Spring addresses the often unspoken connection between the powerful call for a political-cultural renaissance that emerged with the end of South African apartheid and the popular revolts of 2011 that dramatically remade the landscape in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. Looking between southern and northern Africa, the transcontinental line from Cape to Cairo that for so long supported colonialism, its chapters explore the deep roots of these two decisive events and demonstrate how they are linked by shared opposition to legacies of political, economic, and cultural subjugation. As they work from African, Islamic, and Western perspectives, the book's contributors shed important light on a continent's difficult history and undertake a critical conversation about whether and how the desire for radical change holds the possibility of a new beginning for Africa, a beginning that may well reshape the contours of global affairs.

The initial religious encounters between settlers in southern Africa and the indigenous inhabitants entailed the establishment of settler churches and the relationships with their home countries. However, this era saw little by way of the spread of Christianity. In 1799, with the arrival of Johannes van der Kemp and other missionaries from the London Missionary Society, Christianity began to cross colonial boundaries, marking the great era of missions in southern Africa. At the outset, the missionary presence remained precariously perched between success and failure. While missionary influence among the indigenous peoples was relatively insignificant, the opposite was true within the colony. At the same time, expansion pressures from the Cape precipitated growing conflict between settlers and indigenous peoples. Increasingly, missionaries were caught between the interests of indigenous peoples and those of the colony. For the most part, they sided with their colonial heritage and roots, but in some significant instances, their identification with indigenous people led them to take extremely unpopular stands against both Boer and British colonial authority. Such conflicts are traced at various levels throughout this book. The broader spread of Christianity during this period is also examined through multiple voices and stories.

The changing situation in South Africa and eastern Europe prompts Charles Villa-Vicencio to investigate the implications of transforming liberation theology into a theology of reconstruction and nation-building. Such a transformation, he argues, requires theology to become an unambiguously inter-disciplinary study. This book explores the encounter between theology, on the one hand, and constitutional writing, law-making, human rights, economics, and the freedom of conscience on the other. Locating his discussion in the context of the South African struggle, the author compares this situation to that in eastern Europe, and the challenge of what is happening in these situations is identified for contexts where 'the empire has not yet crumbled'.

The changing situation in South Africa and eastern Europe prompts Charles Villa-Vicencio to investigate the implications of transforming liberation theology into a theology of reconstruction and nation-building. Such a transformation, he argues, requires theology to become an unambiguously inter-disciplinary study. This book explores the encounter between theology, on the one hand, and constitutional writing, law-making, human rights, economics, and the freedom of conscience on the other. Locating his discussion in the context of the South African struggle, the author compares this situation to that in eastern Europe, and the challenge of what is happening in these situations is identified for contexts where 'the empire has not yet crumbled'.

This collection of interviews explores the role of religion in the lives of eminent South Africans who led the struggle against apartheid. Nelson Mandela, Chris Hani, Desmond Tutu, Nadine Gordimer, and seventeen other political, religious, and cultural leaders share the beliefs and values that informed the moral positions they adopted, often at great cost. From all ethnic, religious, and political backgrounds, these men and women have shaped one of the greatest political transformations of the century.
What emerges from the interviews are reflections on all aspects of life in an embattled country. There are stories of the homelands and townships, and tales of imprisonment and exile. Dedicated communists relate their intense youthful devotion to Christianity; Muslim activists discuss the complexity of their relationships with their communities. As the respondents grapple with difficult questions about faith, politics, and authority, they expose a more personal picture: of their daily lives, of their pasts, and of the enormous conflicts that arise in a society that continually strains the moral fiber of its citizens. Taken together, these interviews reveal the many-faceted vision that has fueled South Africa's struggle for democracy.