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Perspectives on Transnational Apology and Reconciliation in Africa

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International Handbook of Peace and Reconciliation

Abstract

Apologies for violations of human rights and concrete mechanisms of justice and reconciliation after civil conflict have evolved, in large part as a result of the experiences of African countries, into an international “transitional justice” norm. As a means of reconciliation of interstate conflict, however, apology is a much rarer and more controversial phenomenon. While some research explores the views of ordinary Africans on internal transitional justice processes, little is known about their attitudes toward transnational apology. This chapter addresses African perspectives on the circumstances under which people accept apology as a means of reconciliation between states. Using grounded theory to identify themes in Africans’ qualitative responses to relevant open-ended questions on the Personal and Institutional Rights to Aggression and Peace Survey, we find that over half of the participants suggested that apology is successful only under certain conditions. Recognition of wrongdoing, remorse, concrete measures to repair the relationship, and material reparations were the most common prerequisites identified in the African sample. These conditions are similar to those identified in previous research exploring how ordinary people define the elements of effective apology. Coded and analyzed independently, the survey responses are remarkably consistent with the African experience of interstate apology discussed in the first part of this chapter. Although the method used and the nature of the sample do not permit conclusive inferences, it is notable that, like the survey responses, the public and official discourses surrounding bilateral and multilateral efforts by African countries to obtain redress for past wrongs have also emphasized material reparations. We conclude by discussing possible theoretical explanations for the patterns and the implications of the preliminary observations and for existing and future research.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A state apology involves the public, formal, and ritualized (Kampf & Löwenheim,2012) acknowledgement by a representative of a state of collective responsibility for a transgression against groups or individuals who reside in another state, accompanied by “regret and a disposition to avoid transgressing in the future” (Bagdonas, 2010, p. 202) and aimed at reconciliation with the victims as well as rehabilitation into international society (Carroll, 2008, p. 17). This reconciliation with victims and restoration of the enjoyment of the full benefits of membership in international society is akin, some argue, to forgiveness, since no apology made in the international realm has ever been answered by a formal statement of forgiveness (Griswold, 2007). Many scholars have argued that state apology requires additional components, such as expression of emotion, sympathy for the victim, and acceptance of a narrative of past events that represents a common, factual understanding of what happened as understood by the victim, but it is not clear how fulfillment of these criteria would be measured (Cole, 2008).

  2. 2.

    If apology as a practice of international diplomacy does contribute to reconciliation, it does so on an informal basis in that it is not recognized as a formal remedy in international law, although apologies may affirm the existence and justify application of existing remedies for the violations of laws and norms that the apology may acknowledge. As a result, leaders craft state apologies that avoid providing evidence or admission that specific norms and rules with binding legal remedies or obligations were violated (Bilder, 2005). State apologies for their past injustices have largely been limited to conduct that so obviously violated international norms that they only reinforce existing norms rather than establish new precedents (Bilder, 2005, p. 359).

  3. 3.

    While sub-Saharan and North Africa are often separated in academic studies, North and sub-Saharan Africa have worked together in continent-wide efforts to seek apology and reparations for “slavery, colonialism, and neocolonialism” in the tradition of pan-Africanism started by Caribbean-American Marcus Garvey in the 1920s (Howard-Hassmann, 2004, pp. 86–87).

  4. 4.

    In the early 1990s, Jewish groups demanded payment of unpaid life insurance policies on Holocaust victims and release of funds in Swiss Banks deposited by Jews before and during World War II to their descendants. Reparation claims in the United States include the (unsuccessful) 1997 introduction of legislation on the subject in the US House of Representatives by white Congressman Tony Hall and a movement for descendants of slaves to bring class-action civil lawsuits against corporations that profited from slavery (Howard-Hassmann, 2004, pp. 88–89).

  5. 5.

    Estimates of the number killed range from a low of about 1,000, according to official French sources, to a high of 90,000. Algerian scholars differ in their estimates, which range from 15,000 to 30,000, with estimates in the popular media typically 45,000 and as high as 90,000 (Peyroulou, 2006). Ordinary Algerians, particularly those in Sétif, seem to have a common belief that the number killed on May 8, 1945, alone was 45,000 (Observations based on Reif visit to the monument to the massacre at Sétif in June 2004 and conversations with Algerians in 2004 and 2007, in which the phrase “the French massacred 45,000 people in a single day” was uttered repeatedly).

  6. 6.

    This response is an illustration of respondent statements that contain several elements and thus contain more than one “codeable unit,” all of which are coded independently. To provide the context of the respondents’ statements, the full responses are sometimes included in the discussion with the relevant codeable unit in italics. The coding methods are discussed in more detail in the introduction to this section.

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Reif, M. et al. (2013). Perspectives on Transnational Apology and Reconciliation in Africa. In: Malley-Morrison, K., Mercurio, A., Twose, G. (eds) International Handbook of Peace and Reconciliation. Peace Psychology Book Series, vol 7. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5933-0_27

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