Theorizing Post-Conflict Reconciliation

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Confounded by recognition

The apology, the High Court and theAboriginal Embassy in Australia

Paul Muldoon and Andrew Schaap

In postcolonial states reconciliation processes can be understood as attempts to redress historical injustices arising from misrecognition. Reconciliation begins, or rather an appreciation of the need for it arises, with the acknowledgement of the denigration of the identity of Indigenous peoples. It is only when past practices are negatively re-evaluated in light of contemporary norms – norms based upon and a new appreciation of the value of Indigenous culture – that postcolonial states are drawn towards making symbolic and material reparations for historical mistreatment. In this context, reparations serve the dual ...