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36 - Human Rights and Reconciliation

Theoretical and Empirical Connections

from Part V - Future Directions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2020

By
Gabriel Velez ,
Gabriel Twose  and
Wilson López López
Edited by
Neal S. Rubin  and
Roseanne L. Flores
Neal S. Rubin
Affiliation:
Adler University
Roseanne L. Flores
Affiliation:
Hunter College, City University of New York
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Summary

Reconciliation requires individuals and groups to address past and present inequality, injustice, and violence to construct better futures based on stronger social bonds and a respect for human rights. Yet, the theoretical threads connecting the concepts are rarely unraveled. This chapter uses psychological frameworks to better understand reconciliation in relation to human rights. The authors propose that in postconflict settings, reconciliation and human rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and neither is truly possible without the other. First, the authors briefly review understandings of reconciliation and how they are advanced by postconflict mechanisms such as truth commissions. Second, the authors explain how reconciliation may be connected to greater respect for human rights. Third, Colombia is used as a case study to demonstrate the complex relationships between forgiveness, reconciliation, and human rights. Finally, the chapter offers future directions for research at the intersection of human rights, psychology, and reconciliation.

Keywords

reconciliationtransitional justicememoryforgivenesstruthtruth commissionsColombia
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Human Rights , pp. 537 - 552
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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