Truth & Reconciliation In South Africa - The Fundamental Documents (Paperback)

What are the political roots of South Africa's truth and reconciliation commission (TRC)? By what means did the Commission endeavor to understand South Africa's violent past and promote a spirit of national unity? Did the commission's acclaimed and controversial efforts help South Africans to walk the bridge from apartheid to nonracial democracy?

This groundbreaking volume provides an explicit and often startling view of the Truth and reconciliation commission. In the name of understanding the commission's development, work, and findings, it features a rich variety of materials, including many selections from the TRC's archive of testimony and its Final Report that have yet to receive significant public scrutiny. These fundamental documents challenge conventional accounts of the Commission. They also shed light on how the Commission undertook a public process of history-making, attempted to deal with the past in a manner that gave voice to experiences long silenced, endeavoured to expose the violence of apartheid and the excesses of struggle, and demonstrated the political necessity of repairing a crime against humanity.

For both citizen and student, this volume affords an opportunity to grapple with the difficult concepts of truth and reconciliation in South Africa and a chance to reflect on why these two simple words have challenged international preconceptions about the power and potential of African politics.