Abstract
The legacy of mass atrocity—including colonialism, slavery or specific manifestations such as apartheid—continue long after their demise. Applying a temporal intergenerational lens adds complications. We argue that mass atrocity creates for subsequent generations a deep psychological rupture akin to witnessing past atrocities. This creates a moral liability in the present. Healing is a process dependent on the authenticity (evident in discourse and action) with which we address contemporary problems. A further overriding task is to open social and political space for divergent voices. Acknowledgement of mass atrocity requires more than one-off events or institutional responses (the grand apology, the truth commission). Rather, acknowledgement has to become a lived social, cultural and political reality. Without this acknowledgement, healing, either collectively or individually, is stymied. Healing after mass atrocity is as much about political action (addressing inequalities and racism) as an act of re-imaging created through constant and contested re-writing.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.15.3.1779
Recommended Citation
Hamber, Brandon and Palmary, Ingrid
(2021)
"A Dance of Shadows and Fires: Conceptual and Practical Challenges of Intergenerational Healing after Mass Atrocity,"
Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal:
Vol. 15:
Iss.
3:
100–120.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.15.3.1779
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol15/iss3/12
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