Introduction to Reconciliation and Forgiveness

Abstract

The topics of reconciliation and forgiveness have emerged as a major idée-force within the last two decades in conflict resolution studies. The issue of human capacity for forgiveness after traumatic experiences is taken up by South African psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela in her chapter “Forgiveness is ‘the Wrong Word’: Empathic Repair and the Potential for Human Connection in the Aftermath of Historical Trauma.” South African Theologian Christo Thesnaar looks critically at the failures and omissions that have accompanied South Africa’s reconciliation policies in his chapter “Alternative and Innovative Approaches to Reconciliation: A South African Perspective,” while Swiss theologian and ethicist Christine Schliesser provides a critical reading of Rwanda’s current politics of reconciliation in her contribution “The Politics of Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda.”