Comparisons to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission haunt most post-1990s instit... more Comparisons to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission haunt most post-1990s institutional attempts to address historical injustice, building on the wide familiarity and perceived success of that TRC. Comparing Canada and South Africa, Nagy (2012) notes that “loose analogizing” has hampered the application of important lessons from South Africa to the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission; namely, the discovery that “narrow approaches to truth collude with superficial views of reconciliation that deny continuities of violence.” This article adds to the conversation – which has thus far treated women tangentially, if at all – by gendering the continuum of Settler colonial violence in both locations, and by outlining the implications of these TRCs (and the potential for reconciliation) for Black and Indigenous women in particular. We argue that, in the Canadian attempt to grapple with the legacy of residential schools and the South African effort to deal with a history of apartheid, institutional approaches to ‘truth’ have been narrow *and* androcentric. In both locations, the Settler state’s narrative favoured extra-ordinary acts and historicity, denying structural injustice, lived relationships, and the colonial present – but the negative effects of such strategic epistemic constructions have not been equivalent for men and women. The simultaneous historical bounding and social consolidation of Indigenous experiences of abuse and injustice has thus produced a ‘double Settler denial’ in the case of Black and Indigenous women today.
This thesis examines the long term effects of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commissi... more This thesis examines the long term effects of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Building on existing critique of the TRC’s narrow mandate and sociologist Melissa Steyn’s argument that apartheid was predicated on an ignorance contract amongst South African citizenry, this thesis asks if the mandate of a truth commission can actually serve to entrench ignorances and divisions. More specifically, this thesis asks in what ways can the ignorance contract be seen in South African society now? It identifies key discourses that represent ongoing ignorances in South Africa: non-acknowledgement, denial, misrecognition and truth and ignorance. Looking at the performance of memory and the areas of immigration, emigration, and gender, this thesis finds that the TRC’s mandate has led to ongoing ignorance about apartheid in South Africa.
Comparisons to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission haunt most post-1990s instit... more Comparisons to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission haunt most post-1990s institutional attempts to address historical injustice, building on the wide familiarity and perceived success of that TRC. Comparing Canada and South Africa, Nagy (2012) notes that “loose analogizing” has hampered the application of important lessons from South Africa to the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission; namely, the discovery that “narrow approaches to truth collude with superficial views of reconciliation that deny continuities of violence.” This article adds to the conversation – which has thus far treated women tangentially, if at all – by gendering the continuum of Settler colonial violence in both locations, and by outlining the implications of these TRCs (and the potential for reconciliation) for Black and Indigenous women in particular. We argue that, in the Canadian attempt to grapple with the legacy of residential schools and the South African effort to deal with a history of apartheid, institutional approaches to ‘truth’ have been narrow *and* androcentric. In both locations, the Settler state’s narrative favoured extra-ordinary acts and historicity, denying structural injustice, lived relationships, and the colonial present – but the negative effects of such strategic epistemic constructions have not been equivalent for men and women. The simultaneous historical bounding and social consolidation of Indigenous experiences of abuse and injustice has thus produced a ‘double Settler denial’ in the case of Black and Indigenous women today.
This thesis examines the long term effects of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commissi... more This thesis examines the long term effects of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Building on existing critique of the TRC’s narrow mandate and sociologist Melissa Steyn’s argument that apartheid was predicated on an ignorance contract amongst South African citizenry, this thesis asks if the mandate of a truth commission can actually serve to entrench ignorances and divisions. More specifically, this thesis asks in what ways can the ignorance contract be seen in South African society now? It identifies key discourses that represent ongoing ignorances in South Africa: non-acknowledgement, denial, misrecognition and truth and ignorance. Looking at the performance of memory and the areas of immigration, emigration, and gender, this thesis finds that the TRC’s mandate has led to ongoing ignorance about apartheid in South Africa.
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Papers by Alison James