Peace Theory & Reconciliation

• Nicole A. Hofmann's paper examines reconciliation in conflict transformation, especially within international conflict resolution, emphasizing peace theory perspectives.
• The paper analyzes South Africa’s experience with reconciliation and its implications in international contexts
• The paper challenges the notion that peace simply means the absence of violence, advocating for wider peace-building approaches.
• Approaches from peace theory scholars, like Johan Galtung, counter realist perspectives on peace by incorporating broader peace-building strategies.

Peace Theory and Reconciliation

• Transformation of conflicts is essential for lasting peace, making reconciliation a crucial process
• The paper contrasts reconciliation's advantages against realist claims about power politics and international relations.
• The paper acknowledges a Christian concept of reconciliation while modernizing it for socio-political contexts.
• Conflict doesn't require negation, but should be distinguished from violence
• Conflict is primarily subjective, with multiple valid perspectives.
• Conflict, as described by Mitchell, exists in relationships where incompatible goals, needs, or interests are perceived

Galtung's Triangle of Conflict

• Galtung stresses that violence is conflict handled by wanting to do harm instead of seeking for constructive solutions

Restoring Relations

• Peacekeeping needs peace-building through reconciliation to restore workable relations post-violence.
• Reconciliation aims to create new social relations rather than turning enemies into friends.
• The foundation for lasting peace is intact social relations at a personal, national, and global level.

Origin of Reconciliation and its Religious History

• Reconciliation is rooted in Christian spirituality, involving justification and reconciliation of sinners with God.
• Human relations are part of a "Kingdom of God".
• Sinners restore their relationship with God through justification, leading to forgiveness and guilt removal.
• Committing a sin is viewed as violating a moral law and should be connected to feelings of guilt.
• Only believers are eligible for their sins to be forgiven and pardoned, thus limiting reconciliation to the religious.
• Dwyer crafts a secular "Reconciliation for Realists", distinct from religious views.
• Dwyer contrasts reconciliation and forgiveness, allows for combining them, and excludes the need to enforce universal harmony.
• A process of making sense of past events through a clear view and wide range of interpretations of events is within reconciliation.
• Reconciliation requires not factual truth, instead, explaining the past with awareness of preventing future events.
• Though seemingly removed from religion, Realist reconciliation isn't fully convincing; Dwyer substitutes restoring relation to God with a search for psychological peace.
• It also replaces Christian moral law with commitment to international law.
• The most convincing statement towards realist discourse stresses plural interests within conflicting parties, making reconciliation a feasible solution.

Galtung's Peace Theory

• Reconciliation is a theme with psychological, sociological, theological, philosophical, and human roots.
• Dialogue is essential for disclosing the truth of the past to achieve reconciliation.

Galtung's reconciliation model is based on 3 pillars:

• Victim & perpetrator have forgiveness for apology and restitution.
• Perpetrator & state truth in return for amnesty.
• State & victim restitution in return for closure.
• Victims, perpetrators, and the state are incorporated into Galtung's truth and reconciliation model.
• Peace Theory emphasizes reconciliation that includes forgiveness, truth, and restitution.
• Reconciliation involves a dialogue where parties agree that behavior comes from deficient structures/culture and turn together against that violence.
• With the goal of joining forces to approach future problems

The Importance of Healing

• Described as a product of closure and healing in its significance for Peace Theory
• Useful for national reconciliation, healing is best understood as above to be restoring social relations and to agree on a new political order
• Although, powerful, the concept is extremely vulnerable because any withholding of aspects sabotage the process, and it is difficult to determine which demands must be approached by whom
• Simultaneity is good, still others say there can be no conciliation without truth
• Overall Peace Theory is essential to reconciliation, with Galtung's model especially being crucial to remember, including restitution, but it is hard to create a lasting state

South Africa's Transition

• The transition to democracy from Apartheid by South Africa highlights the need for reconciliation
• Process was through negotiation between NP, the ANC, and those from other or minority groups and the illegitimate white minority government as well
• While the international community had contributed to the transitional process, it was instigated domestically, and therefore the nation had a "real sense of ownership" for it.
• This also leads to a lasting solution

The TRC

• Established under the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act
• Three committees are established
• The Human Rights Violations Committee (HRVC), processed testimonies from victims/families.
• The Reparations and Rehabilitation Committee (RRC), considered the weakest due to its limited power and budget.
• The Amnesty Committee (AC), integrated amnesty procedures, unique to South Africa, seen as creative due to former commissions
• The TRC has allowed for public debate
• TRC testimony from the HRVC was considered impactful for participants and society.
• Public acknowledgment restores human dignity
• As the truth is told, victims are able to spell out feelings in moral progress
• The TRC did not focus on people unforgiving, but it provided the opportunity to get there
• Amnesty is controversial, but it was important to help people feel ok handing over power
• One cannot have both revenge or hate, and also investigate

The Reality of Guilt

• Difficult to prosecute perpetrators during the Apartheid because records were often fake
• TRC an independent body, but also accused was biased
• TRC established that the conditions for reconciliation created public discourse
• It was hard to achieve final reconciliation due to historical, political, and judicial/personal instances
• Never was able to be altered from financial conditions at time under Apartheid/the political oppression
• Restorative justice is controversial, with the TRC playing a large part, with the AC defending this rule at all costs, for instance
• TRC a successful alternative model to war, focusing on finding a consensus truth among all ethnic groups, but this too becomes idealist and hard to imagine having all
• P.W. Botha did not attend TRC meetings, even though there was evidence for his case about it
• The success of these cases was reliant on people confessing, therefore TRC worked to make things appear dramatic

The Mandate of the TRC

• The mandate of the TRC didn't include everyday harassments from the oppression
• Did include gross humans rights and torture

The Success of the TRC

• Truth and forgiveness were evident
• There was a change in attitudes with documented public hearings and success
• Success can be tracked when considering that stable peace has not been achieved as the end goal, and that even if it did not work in many situations, there was economic backing,
• Not perfect

The Future of Progress

• Modern justice does not initiate change of attitudes
• It does not stop atrocities from happening in the future
• TRCs are still very valuable so that international conflicts can be transformed too
• There is a lack of global authority and it is something to consider
• Reconciling the world with commissions doesn't break down the rule-of-law either
• Securing this all with those actions that see people acting in peace and non-violence
• It is all worth exploring