Routledge Waging War, Making Peace: Reparations and Human Rights

Humans are good at making war―and much less successful at making peace. Genocide, torture, slavery, and other crimes against humanity are gross violations of human rights that are frequently perpetrated and legitimized in the name of nationalism, militarism, and economic development. This book tackles the question of how to make peace by taking a critical look at the primary political mechanism used to "repair" the many injuries suffered in war. With an explicit focus on reparations and human rights, it examines the broad array of abuses being perpetrated in the modern era, from genocide to loss of livelihood. Based on the experiences of anthropologists and others who document abuses and serve as expert witnesses, case studies from around the world offer insight into reparations proceedings; the ethical struggles associated with attempts to secure reparations; the professional and personal risks to researchers, victims, and human rights advocates; and how to come to terms with the political compromises of reparations in the face of the human need for justice. Waging War, Making Peace promises to be a major contribution to public policy, political science, international relations, and human rights and peace research. Review 'Well conceived and brilliantly executed. In recent years, anthropologists have produced influential studies of group violence and war, and with this volume, the anthropology of post-conflict peace-making comes of age. Waging War, Making Peace includes thoughtful analyses of the social process of reparations, as well as richly detailed accounts of what repair and redress might mean in a number of societies around the world.' Richard A. Wilson, Director, Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut 'Waging War, Making Peace brilliantly exposes the complexities of reparation, restitution, and post-conflict remedies. It also takes an unflinching look at the daunting legal, political, economic, and cultural obstacles standing in the way of justice for those who have suffered from human rights abuses and war crimes committed by nation-states, corporations, and other non-state actors. Drawing upon research conducted in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, the contributors to this book break new ground by using ethnography to describe the herculean efforts of those who pursue long-term peace by working for justice, and the creative roles played by anthropologists contributing to their labor. As international courts, tribunals, and truth commissions expand their mission, this book stands as an indispensable guidebook for those seeking a lucid understanding of what is at stake.' Roberto J. Gonzalez, author of Anthropologists in the Public Sphere: Speaking out on War, Peace and American Power, and American Counterinsurgency: Human Science and the Human Terrain 'This book offers profound and compelling evidence of the enduring international need for reparations of past wrongs and the unique role anthropologists can play in keeping community needs and desires at the forefront of reparations debates. This is a must read for anyone interested in transitional justice.' Victoria Sanford, Lehman College & The Graduate Center, CUNY; author of Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala 'No one knows more about 21st century issues of war, human rights, and peace than Barbara Rose Johnston and Susan Slyomivics. This is scholarship you can trust-gripping, theoretically rich, socially responsible. Fourteen leading scholars illuminate the dark corners of global insecurity and hone an understanding of peace that includes the tantalizing promise that the breathe of life will return in the aftermath of horror. Waging War, Making Peace explores this emergent promise: It examines the constructs and processes used to \repair\"" the consequences of cataclysmic violence. With an anthropological focus on the dynamic tension between the political compromises that produce peace plans and