| Summary, etc. |
The catastrophic fate of European Jewry during the years of National Socialism in Germany and the subsequent calamity of the holocaust for both Jews and other minorities under the Third Reich have continued to press on contemporary thinkers and historians the difficult task of coming to terms with its features. While the Holocaust or Shoah remains representative of a form of state crime, its overwhelming singularity is today tested by many cases of state impunity, systemic violence, repression, war crimes, and gross human rights violations--especially in the Balkans and Rwanda. In the wake of the debates around such violations, new and formidable categories of jurisprudence are emerging in which such notions as transitional justice, global justice, and universal jurisdiction are working to reshape the nature of judicial sovereignty on the one hand and accountability on the other in the post-cold war period. Experiments with Truth engages with the vicissitudes of the emerging debates around "Truth and Reconciliation," new forms of global justice, testimonies and memories of communities. In this volume a wide range of intellectuals, artists, filmmakers, and historians respond to the challenge of transitional justice in often difficult but illuminating ways. 'In the last two decades a series of juridical inquiries, as well as political and social assessments have been initiated all over the world to consider the nature of state impunity and wanton violence against its people and others, and on conflicts from which have arisen strong cases of genocideand gross human rights violations. Until recently, juridical bodies, empowered by the overwhelming evidence of such violence and gross human rights violations have been the primary means of bringing these cases into the social context of societies in transition and undergoing political reorganization. However, the trauma of loss and the debilitating aspect of its impact on collective psyche have increasingly called for other mechanisms that could build a credible bridge between the juridical form of justice on the one hand and on the other the personal need of victims stories to be heard and entered into the historical record.' Texts: Shahid Amin, Yadh Ben Achour, Rory Bester, Rustom Bharucha, Boris Buden, Urvashi Butalia, Manthia Diawara, Vojin Dimitrijevic, Maria Jose Guembe, Alfredo Jaar, Franz Kaltenbeck, Gurjot Malhi, Mahmood Mamdani, Avishai Margalit, Genevieve Morel, Lolle Nauta, Albie Sachs, Dilip Simeon, Eyal Sivan, Susan Slyomovics, Barbara Maria Stafford, Ruti Teitel Susana Torre. |