Repairing Historical Wrongs

Abstract

This paper introduces a special issue of Social & Legal Studies devoted to the topic of ‘Repairing Historical Wrongs’. In recent decades, both scholars and activists have given increasing consideration to various legal and ethical obligations which can arise as a consequence of serious acts of injustice committed by previous generations and/or political regimes. Many of these efforts to repair historical wrongs pose a challenge to established models of legal responsibility and corrective justice. To help make sense of the core issues at stake, we have divided the paper into four sections, starting with an analysis of the limitations of existing avenues for legal redress, and the types of arguments that have emerged in response to these limitations. From here, we go on to consider the ethics and mechanics of institutional and individual inheritance, paying particular attention to a widespread tendency to treat assets and accomplishments as collective goods, while reducing wrongdoing to individual acts. This is followed by a snapshot of potential remedies, in which we identity three key modes of reparation: financial restitution, apologies and holistic approaches. Finally, we consider the political dynamics surrounding the representation of specific cases as ‘historical wrongs’, and the potential consequences associated with this approach to the past.