Although mass atrocities are not unique to the 20th century, organized response to such violence has taken new forms, some of which offer hope of some small redress to the victims of war and genocide. In the groundbreaking and timely Between Vengeance and Forgiveness, Harvard Law School professor Martha Minow explores the benefits and drawbacks of a variety of forms of settlement.

For those who have recoiled in horror and outrage at collective violence in Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, and elsewhere, this book--with chapters titled "Trials," "Truth Commissions," "Reparations," and "Facing History"--is a primer on how the world, and individuals, might respond to such acts once the shock subsides. Minow resists the idea that compensatory measures such as war-crimes tribunals and financial payback can ever bring true closure for those who have suffered. "Legal responses," she writes, "are inevitably frail and insufficient." Nevertheless, Minow advocates addressing these atrocities in a formal way: "The victimized deserve the acknowledgment of their humanity," she asserts, "and the reaffirmation of the utter wrongness of its violation." --Maria Dolan


From Kirkus Reviews
A leading legal scholar's judicious examination of our varied reactions to mass violence and their relative potential for healing people and nations. From the Holocaust to apartheid South Africa and Rwanda, 20th-century collective violence has challenged societies to deal with the aftermath. And Minow (Law/Harvard; Not Only for Myself, 1997) makes her own significant contribution to this effort by sketching out a ``lexicon of potential responses to collective violence.'' Through a series of chapters highlighting specific forms of responses in their historical contexts, she formalizes a vocabulary for assessing the ways in which society is able or unable to deal with irreversible loss (and the emotional damage caused by large-scale violence). First she contemplates the possibility of bridging reactions of vengeance and forgiveness, raising one of her central arguments: the healing power of therapy for victims, bystanders, and even offenders. In further chapters, she discusses the history of war-crimes prosecution, focusing on the complex legacies of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials following WWII, and reparations, drawing on the case of the US government and former Japanese-American internees. Minow's chapter on truth commissions proves to be the most engaging, given its timeliness amid the ongoing debates about South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Citing the importance of direct personal narratives, she argues that when society prioritizes healing and the restoration of human dignity, a truth commission may serve better than a prosecution actually does. Her final chapter assesses the value of public monuments, educational programs, and amnesty. Some readers will feel frustrated by Minow's admitted ``resistance to tidiness'' in drawing conclusions and by her rationalized tightrope walk between the extremes of idealism and cynicism. But this is a mostly enlightening exploration of a thorny subject. (For another look at these questions, see Wole Soyinka, The Burden of Memory, The Muse of Forgiveness, p. 1442.) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
"Skillfully explores what steps can be taken in the wake of mass atrocities. . . . Incisive and insightful." —Jane Lampman, The Christian Science Monitor The rise of collective violence and genocide is the twentieth century's most terrible legacy. Martha Minow, a Harvard law professor and one of our most brilliant and humane legal minds, offers a landmark book on our attempts to heal after such large-scale tragedy. Writing with informed, searching prose of the extraordinary drama of the truth commissions in Argentina, East Germany, and most notably South Africa; war-crime prosecutions in Nuremberg and Bosnia; and reparations in America, Minow looks at the strategies and results of these riveting national experiments in justice and healing. "Compassionate and well-reasoned. . . . Minow makes a convincing case for the restorative power of speaking about trauma." —Alexandra Starr, Washington Monthly "At the close of this century of death camps, killing fields and desaparecidos, there is perhaps no more urgent question than the one raised in Martha Minow's useful new book: Can societies recover from mass atrocity without falling prey to the legacies of a violent past?" —Marguerite Feitlowitz, DRCLAS News "[An] enlightening exploration of a thorny subject." —Kirkus Reviews


Card catalog description
With Between Vengeance and Forgiveness, Martha Minow, Harvard law professor and one of our most brilliant and humane legal minds, offers a landmark book on justice and healing after horrific violence. Remembering and forgetting, judging and forgiving, reconciling and avenging, grieving and educatingMinow shows us why each may be necessary, yet painfully inadequate, to individuals and societies living in the wake of past horrors. She explores the rich and often troubling range of responses to massive, societal-level oppression. She writes of the legacy of war-crime prosecutions, beginning with the Nuremberg trials. She explores whether reparation - such as the monetary awards given to Japanese-Americans for internment during World War II, or art, such as Holocaust memorials - can be a basis for reconciliation after immeasurable personal and cultural loss. Minow also writes with informed, searching prose of the extraordinary drama of truth commissions in Argentina, East Germany, and most notably South Africa, and in the process delves into the risks and requirements involved in hearing from victims, the dynamics of gender, and the value of even imperfect gestures in the midst of these riveting experiments in justice and healing.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

With Between Vengeance and Forgiveness, Martha Minow, Harvard law professor and one of our most brilliant and humane legal minds, offers a landmark book on justice and healing after horrific violence. Remembering and forgetting, judging and forgiving, reconciling and avenging, grieving and educating -- Minow shows us why each may be necessary, yet painfully inadequate, to individuals and societies living in the wake of past horrors. She explores the rich and often troubling range of responses to massive, societal-level oppression. She writes of the legacy of war-crime prosecutions, beginning with the Nuremberg trials. She explores whether reparation -- such as the monetary awards given to Japanese-Americans for internment during World War II, or art, such as Holocaust memorials -- can be a basis for reconciliation after immeasurable personal and cultural loss. Minow also writes with informed, searching prose of the extraordinary drama of truth commissions in Argentina, East Germany, and most notably South Africa, and in the process delves into the risks and requirements involved in hearing from victims, the dynamics of gender, and the value of even imperfect gestures in the midst of these riveting experiments in justice and healing.

FROM THE CRITICS

Alexandra Starr

...[Minow] makes clear from the outset that any response to societal-level violence will be inadequate....The challenge...is to negotiate a path between securing justice for victims and attempting to rebuild a society....different cultures and circumstances will dictate the most appropriate response....makes a compelling case for truth commissions over traditional judicial prosecutions. —The Washington Monthly

KLIATT

Mass murder, sanctioned torture and crimes against humanity invariably find a response in vengeful retaliation—a "get even" syndrome that perpetuates the cycle of mass violence and continued atrocities. But Martha Minow says human beings can transcend their instinct to reciprocal violence. Between Vengeance and Forgiveness is essentially a "turn the other cheek" solution. It demands almost saintly virtue from victims of atrocities and the wisdom of Solomon from world courts and public opinion. Minow, however, is quick to admit that forgiveness for mass atrocities is difficult, even unthinkable. "Who [indeed] can forgive the Holocaust? Rwandan genocide? Dismembered children in Sierra Leone? We are unable to forgive what [we] cannot punish and [we] are unable to punish what turns out to be unforgivable." In addition to an iron constitution and a strong dose of pious forbearance, Minow's prescription for recovery from crimes against humanity also requires "acknowledgement, apology and reparation" if the survivors of these atrocities are to overcome the "indifference that compounds victimization." South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission [TRC] deals with the problem by employing mass therapy. The TRC demands confessions and apologies in return for "that lawful amnesia" called amnesty. With all its drawbacks, and there are many, this method so far has been successful in keeping the lid on the black population that has every reason to extract a terrible revenge for the years of suffering atrocities under apartheid. Other attempts to assuage victims of atrocities include Australia's "Sorry Day" in apology for past crimes against its aboriginal population and the U.S. payment of$25,000 each in reparations to the survivors of Japanese American families who lost everything because they were imprisoned during WW II. All attempts at restitution seem puny when measured against the enormity of these crimes. But "only when pain rooted in past harms was addressed, and only when there was justice could there be reconciliation and a foundation for hope and cooperation." Until recently the world has had no better solution for curbing mass atrocities or thwarting the tide of vengeance that follows them than the incantation of such biblical bromides as: "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord" and "To err is human, to forgive divine." Unfortunately, only God can have it both ways. KLIATT Codes: A—Recommended for advanced students, and adults. 1998, Beacon Press, 214p, 22cm, notes, index, 98-26846, $14.00. Ages 17 to adult. Reviewer: William Kircher; Washington, DC, May 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 3)

Alexandra Starr

...[Minow] makes clear from the outset that any response to societal-level violence will be inadequate....The challenge...is to negotiate a path between securing justice for victims and attempting to rebuild a society....different cultures and circumstances will dictate the most appropriate response....makes a compelling case for truth commissions over traditional judicial prosecutions. -- The Washington Monthly

Kirkus Reviews

A leading legal scholar's judicious examination of our varied reactions to mass violence and their relative potential for healing people and nations. From the Holocaust to apartheid South Africa and Rwanda, 20th-century collective violence has challenged societies to deal with the aftermath. And Minow (Law/Harvard; Not Only for Myself) makes her own significant contribution to this effort by sketching out a "lexicon of potential responses to collective violence." Through a series of chapters highlighting specific forms of responses in their historical contexts, she formalizes a vocabulary for assessing the ways in which society is able or unable to deal with irreversible loss (and the emotional damage caused by large-scale violence). First she contemplates the possibility of bridging reactions of vengeance and forgiveness, raising one of her central arguments: the healing power of therapy for victims, bystanders, and even offenders. In further chapters, she discusses the history of war-crimes prosecution, focusing on the complex legacies of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials following WWII, and reparations, drawing on the case of the U.S. government and former Japanese-American internees. Minow's chapter on truth commissions proves to be the most engaging, given its timeliness amid the ongoing debates about South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Citing the importance of direct personal narratives, she argues that when society prioritizes healing and the restoration of human dignity, a truth commission may serve better than a prosecution actually does. Her final chapter assesses the value of public monuments, educational programs, and amnesty. Some readers will feelfrustrated by Minow's admitted "resistance to tidiness" in drawing conclusions and by her rationalized tightrope walk between the extremes of idealism and cynicism.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING