"Following a century filled with violations of human rights, a significant number of documentary films have appeared since the first decade of the current century that report these events. Traditionally this process is carried out from the victims’ point of view. However, a new tendency has emerge
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d in which the films deal with the perpetrators’ perspective. It is easy to understand how establishing a relationship with a person who has committed atrocities may be problematic. So, why should we engage with perpetrators? The overarching purpose of this article is to attempt to offer some answers to this question. To this end, two methodological approaches are carried out in parallel: first, this article explores a sample of five documentary films and the filmmakers’ considerations of what their engagement with the perpetrators was like. Second, this article reviews the related literature and the controversial reception of these films by some scholars. In doing so, I also posit a theory that 4Rs (remembrance, recognition, remorse, and redemption) are a necessary prerequisite for the fifth R, of reconciliation. The final elaboration of this schema is mainly based on an example of interpersonal reconciliation." (Abstract)
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"La paz parece haber sido esquiva en la historia de Colombia. Los vaivenes en los procesos de negociación, las promesas incumplidas y la polarización política han hecho de Colombia una nación en un estado de continua crisis y que, a pesar de sí misma —retomando la vieja frase de Bushnell— h
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a logrado mantenerse a flote y, sobre todo, no perder la esperanza de una paz estable y duradera. Numerosos han sido los intentos por construirla y parecen haber sido infructuosos, en especial porque buena parte de la representación colectiva que tenemos de ellos ha sido construida desde el aparataje mediático que, en el caso de nuestro país, ha estado al servicio del poder y que ha redundado en un escepticismo que, especialmente desde los años noventa, ha tendido a transformarse en una fuerte polarización. Con este libro queremos no solo pensar la paz y el (pos)conflicto desde la comunicación, sino recordar(nos), una vez más, que aún podemos ser un nosotros." (Cubierta del libro)
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"When Zimbabwe attained her independence from colonial powers in 1980, prospects of a peaceful nation were high, especially following the pledge made by the Prime Minister Elect in his victory speech. Isaiah 2:4b was quoted as a metaphor of peace, but things did not turn out as expected in the follo
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wing years. The vicious cycle of violence that was inherited from the colonial legacy continued and the worse phase of that cycle was the Midlands and Matabeleland crisis, commonly known as Gukurahundi. Approximately 20 000 people died in the state-sanctioned violence (genocide). Using Cue-Dependent Forgetting Theory, this paper critically appraises possible reasons why the promised bliss through reconciliation did not materialise. Among the reasons cited in this paper are the lack of a serious Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and also the phenomenon of amnesia as the major contributory factors to this cycle of violence." (Abstract)
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"Several scholars have raised concerns that the institutional mechanisms through which transitional justice is commonly promoted in post-conflict societies can alienate affected populations. Practitioners have looked to bridge this gap by developing ‘outreach’ programmes, in some instances commi
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ssioning comic books in order to communicate their findings to the people they seek to serve. In this article, we interrogate the ways in which post-conflict comics produce meaning about truth, reconciliation, and the possibilities of peace, focusing in particular on a comic strip published in 2005 as part of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report into the causes and crimes of the 1991– 2002 Civil War. Aimed at Sierra Leonean teenagers, the Report tells the story of ‘Sierrarat’, a peaceful nation of rats whose idyllic lifestyle is disrupted by an invasion of cats. Although the Report displays striking formal similarities with Art Spiegelman’s Maus (a text also intimately concerned with reconciliation, in its own way), it does so to very different ends. The article brings these two texts into dialogue in order to explore the aesthetic politics of truth and reconciliation, and to ask what role popular visual media like comics can play in their practice and (re)conceptualisation." (Abstract)
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"In the western Balkans, where post-war societies are still trying to rebuild their lives, and tensions lie just below the surface, media messages influenced by the politics of the day are destabilizing. For some, this is poorly disguised propaganda, a kind of political “spin”, “spun” by man
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y of the same political elites who were in power in the 1990s and delivered to the public by the mainstream media. In doing so the media is perpetuating divisive rhetoric, and not allowing societies to have reprieve from, or reflect on their traumatic pasts. In this kind of environment, the space for journalists and actors to investigate all sides of a complex story, and to report on present and past events based on facts, in turn challenging dominant societal narratives, is limited. And not only limited, but dangerous. In this 13th edition of Balkan Perspectives, authors from academia, journalism and law, Dafina Halili, Dinko Gruhonjic, Dushica Nofitoska, Dr. Lejla Tutcilo, Sara Velaga, Serbeze Haxhiaj, Teofil Pancic, and Zhaneta Zdravkovska, reflect on the current state of media in the region, the structures supporting it, and what could change to give space and attention to all sides of a story, in order to challenge dominant interpretations of the past and bring about constructive discourse on these topics." (Editorial, page 5)
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"La Comisión de Verdad y Reconciliación no solo documentó la violencia política de las décadas del ochenta y noventa, sino que también le dio a los peruanos una oportunidad única para examinar las causas y la naturaleza de esa violencia. En El arte después de un pasado fracturado peruano, ac
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adémicos y artistas desarrollan el trabajo de la Comisión, argumentando a favor de ampliar la definición del testimonio para incluir diversas formas de producción artística como evidencia documental. Su enfoque innovador en la representación ofrece perspectivas nuevas y convincentes sobre cómo los peruanos experimentaron esos años y cómo han intentado adaptarse a los recuerdos y legados de la violencia. Los análisis abarcan el arte, la memoria y la verdad que resuenan en toda América Latina tras las “guerras sucias” del último medio siglo. Explorando diversas obras de arte, incluidos monumentos conmemorativos, dibujos, teatro, películas, canciones, retablos y ficción, así como una aclamada novela gráfica, los colaboradores muestran que el arte, no limitado por la verdad literal, puede generar nuevas oportunidades para la comprensión empática y solidaria." (Casa editorial)
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"Seit mehr als 20 Jahren herrscht Bürgerkrieg im Kongo. Über drei Millionen Menschen haben bereits ihr Leben verloren. Der Kampf um Rohstoffe wie Coltan, Zinn und Kupfer, an denen der Ostkongo reich ist, spitzt sich weiter zu. 2015 inszenierte der Schweizer Regisseur und Theaterautor Milo Rau das
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Kongo Tribunal - ein politisches Theaterstück -, um den Konflikt und seine Widersprüchlichkeiten öffentlich darzustellen und die gegensätzlichen Positionen, die Interessen und Unvereinbarkeiten zu entschleiern. Durch ein symbolisches Urteil am Ende des Tribunals sollten die Verantwortlichkeiten festgestellt und öffentlich gemacht werden. Milo Rau lud Opfer, Milizionäre, Regierungsvertreter, Oppositionelle, Unternehmer und Vertreter internationaler Organisationen ein und verhandelte mit ihnen drei Fälle, die symbolisch für den Konflikt stehen sollten. Dieses Buch ist eine Verschriftlichung des Tribunals. Milo Rau gewährt Einblicke in sein Regietagebuch und verdeutlicht durch Bilder und Fotos die Eindringlichkeit des Theaterstücks. Im Buch eingebunden sind zudem Interviews, Zeitungsartikel, Reden und Reaktionen. Auch wenn es eine symbolische Verhandlung war, weckt das Theaterstück Hoffnung auf die Möglichkeit eines solchen Tribunals." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"What are the stakes of cultural production in a time of war? How is artistic expression prone to manipulation by the state and international humanitarian organizations? In the charged political terrain of post-genocide Rwanda, post-civil war Uganda, and recent violence in the Democratic Republic of
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Congo, Laura Edmondson explores performance through the lens of empire. Instead of celebrating theatre productions as expression of cultural agency and resilience, Edmondson traces their humanitarian imperatives to a place where global narratives of violence take precedence over local traditions and audiences. Working at the intersection of performance and trauma, Edmondson reveals how artists and cultural workers manipulate narratives in the shadow of empire and how empire, in turn, infiltrates creative capacities." (Publisher description)
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"With Kosovo as its case, this article explores the context and challenges of journalism education in transition societies. Journalists in Kosovo have lived through constant changes from authoritarian to democracy. In this struggle, journalism education has never been stable and steady. The past con
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flict events of the destruction of Yugoslavia haunts present day journalism in challenging human rights, ethics and even business model of Kosovar media. The traumatic past, conflict and ethic animosity is still present in the public discourse among Kosovar journalists due to political resistance of the leadership of the entire region to take steps towards recognizing conflicting past and the atrocities that happened. Over the last decade, new journalism schools have been founded both in public and private sector which reflects significant increase in quality reporting. By utilizing previous research, including data from the Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS) in Kosovo, the article discusses the aspect of transitional journalism in Kosovo, which focuses on transitional justice and looks at the problems from a human rights approach, including the education of journalists in the field of human rights but instead of learning from top down approach. The data in the article show journalistic roles shifting from traditional watchdog to activist role which challenges journalistic professionalism at a time when journalism education in higher education is in its infancy. The article exposes the need for practical, tailored training about the realities of political pressure, history and the transition. As one of the significant gaps in the teaching journalism in Kosovo is in relation to dealing with the past, a lack of taught courses for journalists entering the media market is seen as a weakness of the education system in Kosovo along with other structural problems in the media. Technology, globalization, rapid development of social media leave much to be desired in the journalism education in Kosovo." (Abstract)
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"In recent years, more and more social media (Facebook) groups have been created dealing with memories of the Holocaust in Hungary. In this article, I analyze and compare two groups, “The Holocaust and My Family” and “The Descendants of the Victims and Survivors of the Holocaust” in the fram
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ework of my research project on the concept of digital trauma processing, entitled “Trauma Studies in the Digital Age: The Impact of Social Media on Trauma Processing in Life Narratives and Trauma Literature: the Case of Hungary.” I show how the concept of trauma and trauma processing itself are changing in the digital age as a consequence of the element of sharing (in posts and comments in digital media) gains more importance and thus counteracts the element of silence, which was considered the most important element of trauma on several levels. How does digital sharing of memories of traumas help unblock previously blocked avenues to the past, and how does it contribute to the processing of collective historical traumas and consequently to the mobilization of memories, modernization, and the transformation of identities? I examine how the given characteristics of the different types of Facebook groups, public or closed, influence the ways in which people communicate about a collective historical trauma. I touch upon the issue of research ethics in connection with the handling of sensitive data in social media research. I examine the book The Holocaust and My Family, a collection of posts from the group, and analyze as a case study a post and the related comments, in which a descendant of a perpetrator comes out in the group." (Abstract)
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"Seit März 2007 organisieren lokale und internationale Aktivist*innen in verschiedenen Teilen Afghanistans beinah täglich Aktivitäten mit den unterschiedlichen Techniken des Theaters der Unterdrückten (TdU) des Brasilianers Augusto Boal (1931-2009) sowie anderen emanzipatorischen Theatermethoden
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. In diesen rund zehn Jahren kontinuierlicher Anwendung hat sich das sogenannte „Applied Theatre“ als zentral für die systematische Arbeit mit dem Thema Straflosigkeit bzw. Aufarbeitung von mittlerweile knapp 40 Jahren des ununterbrochenen gewalttätigen Konflikts erwiesen. Hauptzielgruppe der verschiedenen Theateraktivitäten sind die direkten Angehörigen der nach Schätzungen etwa drei Millionen Menschen, die in den unterschiedlichen Konfliktperioden ums Leben gekommen sind. Einige wenige waren bereits zuvor in offiziell registrierten Opfer- oder Witwenverbänden organisiert, während die meisten mit ihrer Trauer allein blieben und isoliert um das bloße Überleben kämpften." (Seite 52)
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"Remembering the Holocaust is a central part of historical awareness and political culture in reunified Germany, Israel, and the United States. But can the same be said for other parts of the world? How have societies that were not affected by occupation and extermination measures under the Nazi reg
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ime dealt with the legacy of the Holocaust? How have minorities with their own experiences of persecution reacted to specific acts of remembrance? How does demographic change affect memory? In what ways have immigrants come to terms with the central significance of the Holocaust? From a global perspective and in different national and regional contexts, international experts analyse the worldwide transformation of Holocaust remembrance. The fourteen case studies focus on the genesis and functions of remembrance in Europe, North and South America, Israel, North Africa, South Africa and Asia. The volume identifies and discusses contradictions and challenges in a process often referred to as the ‘globalisation’ or ‘universalisation’ of Holocaust remembrance." (Publisher description)
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"During political system change and for coming to terms with conflicts, media are the most important mediators. They should help with making the past more transparent, in order to support the transition to democracy. Experts of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the international “Article 10 ECHR
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Task Force” met in Tirana in October 2015 and made the following ten recommendations." (Page 1)
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"Arriving at a collective memory of the past is one of the greatest challenges facing a post-conflict society because it implies reaching a degree of consensus in a polarized context. While truth commissions attempt to present an objective account of the events of a society’s repressive or violent
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past, they inevitably contend with multiple perspectives and interpretations of this history. In essence, truth commissions and other transitional justice mechanisms must mediate this confl ict to bring society to a shared version of this past, which arguably entails a society-wide admission that egregious human rights violations occurred and that victims must be acknowledged. However, for this end to result, transitional justice eff orts rely on the media to encourage consensus making about the past—a daunting but crucial undertaking if society is to escape sliding back into conflict. Ultimately, the media has the potential to bridge the gap between yesterday’s enemies by replacing fearmongering with a focus on empathy, by illustrating how much people have in common and championing victims’ rights to truth and justice. Especially in contexts where the media played a destructive role in the process of the dehumanization of “the other”, which usually laid the groundwork for massive human rights violations, it is precisely in this arena where the shift from denial to acknowledgement must happen. In addition to amplifying messages of acknowledgement coming from transitional justice processes, the media can produce and commission content which will feature voices of victims to humanize them again, and demonstrate that empathy for the other is not an act of betrayal of national or ethnic interests, as wartime ideologies almost always teach." (Conclusion, page 17-18)
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