UNSETTLING APOLOGIES, critical writings on apology from South Africa
312pp., paperback, Bristol, 2022
Contributions include:
"The Power of Apology" by Melanie Judge and Dee Smythe
"Can an Apology Ever Be Enough for Crimes of the Past?" by Yasmin Sooka
"Penance and Punishment: Apology as a remedy for hate speech" by Nurina Ally and Kerry Williams
"On Not Apologising: Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the TRC hearing into the Mandela United Football Club" by Shireen Hassim
"(Mis)Recognitions in the Racial Apology: Reading the racist event and its fallouts" by Nkululeko Nkomo and Peace Kiguwa
"Beyond Words: Apologies and compensation in sexual offences" by Leila Khan and Dee Smythe
"Unicorn Sightings: The corporate moral apology in South Africa" by Tracey Davies
"On Apology and the Failure of Shame in the TRC" by Jaco Barnard-Naudé.
"This book is a timely gift! Boldly exploring the much-desired, much-dreaded and much-avoided concept - saying sorry - is vital for any communal health. From these texts a deeply enriching experience flows in a flair of innovatively composed, exceptionally comprehensive and clear, compelling argumentation." Antjie Krog, author of Country of My Skull
"This is an instructive anthology of harrowingly evocative essays and poetry on our unresolved collective grief. Most of the authors recognise our startling historical poser: not the perpetrators but the victims-turned-ruling-elite bore the full brunt of the minimum material apologies and reparations and, in that, they roundly failed." Dikgang Moseneke, retired Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa
Melanie Judge works with civil society organisations and multilateral institutions on strategy, policy and research for sexual and gender rights in Africa, and is an adjunct Associate Professor in Public Law at the University of Cape Town.
Dee Smythe is a Professor of Public Law and Director of the Centre for Law and Society at the University of Cape Town, and a member of the Centro de Investigação e Desenvolvimento sobre Direito e Sociedade (CEDIS) at the Nova University of Lisbon School of Law, Portugal.