How to Deal with the Past?
The conclusion first discusses the ways in which dealing with an authoritarian or totalitarian past is relevant to present concerns. It then analyses different approaches: honest reckoning and repentance, reconciliation and forgiveness, drawing a line between past and present, and forgetting the pas...
Authors: | ; |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2008
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In: |
Totalitarian movements and political religions
Year: 2008, Volume: 9, Issue: 2/3, Pages: 411-431 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | The conclusion first discusses the ways in which dealing with an authoritarian or totalitarian past is relevant to present concerns. It then analyses different approaches: honest reckoning and repentance, reconciliation and forgiveness, drawing a line between past and present, and forgetting the past or forging a new narrative about it. The importance of historical distance is analysed, followed by the problems of identifying who are perpetrators, accomplices, bystanders and victims. The next sections treat transitional justice, and the role and character of different national narratives, which sometimes creates a new myth of victimhood. ‘Collective memory’ and ‘selective memory’ are treated, concluding with a discussion of the limits of retribution and its role in successful democratisation. |
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ISSN: | 1743-9647 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Totalitarian movements and political religions
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/14690760802094909 |