Reconciliation in Complex Spaces: Christian-Cultural Approaches to Reconciliation in Post-conflict Northern Uganda

Abstract

This article explores the multiple and complex Christian-cultural dynamics of reconciliation advanced by Christian and cultural leaders. Based on field research conducted in northern Uganda, largely among the Acholi people, the study draws attention to different levels of convergence and divergence, harmony and tensions between and among Christian and cultural approaches to reconciliation, and the subsequent social capital generated from both of these approaches. The research demonstrates that Christian leaders drew attention to the biblical resources of forgiveness and reconciliation, whereas cultural rituals of reconciliation involved full acknowledgment of the wrong, healing, reparations, and compensations.