The South African Truth Commission

K. Christie

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2000
• Print ISBN:
  9780333691267
• eBook ISBN:
  9780333983140
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Comparative Law
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Over the last thirty years, many political transitions from authoritarian regimes and dictatorial political systems have been accompanied by Truth Commissions. Since 1974 there have been over twenty of these Commissions established in countries as diverse as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, the Philippines and Germany, among others. Perhaps the most important Truth Commission of our time is the South African one which also seeks to act as a mechanism for reconciliation in a divided society. The South African conflict was extremely long and violent; its victims suffered traumatic experiences and, in part, one of the Commission's functions is to allow their story to be told. This book tries to examine the Truth Commission here and the issues that surround it, assessing different versions of the South African past and the complex negotiations leading to the establishment of the Commission and the complex politics of amnesty, justice and nation-building.

Table of contents

• Cover
• The South African Truth Commission
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of Tables
• List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Introduction
• 1 A Brief History of Apartheid: Contentious Histories Kenneth Christie
• 2 Comparing Truth Commissions
• 3 Negotiating the Truth in Times of Transition
• 4 The Role of the TRC in Nation Building
• 5 The Question of Amnesty and Justice
• 6 Towards Reconciliation or Deepening the Wounds?
• 7 The Truth Commission: Memory and Change
• Appendix: Questions to Members of the Truth Commission and Others
• Notes
• Select Bibliography
• Index