On the Uses and Abuses of Political Apologies

'This outstanding collection delivers on its title, going straight to what is specifically political in political apologies and showing how political apologies can be better or worse. These concise and vibrant essays, threaded throughout with concrete and timely examples, break through commonplaces to new insight and theory. This book is essential for those concerned with the practice or the theory of apology in the political realm and with the role of apology in societies dealing with the past.' - Margaret Urban Walker, Donald J. Schuenke Chair in Philosophy, Marquette University, USA

'In an age of 'meae culpae", On the Uses and Abuses of Political Apologies provides a theoretically rich and clear-eyed critique of the motivations behind official acts of regret and the meaning, if any, that victims of state violence derive from them. Are state apologies a 'smoke screen' for obscuring the political will to hold perpetrators accountable and compensate victims? Or can they provide a tangible and visible expression of official acknowledgement and change? This book delivers poignant insights into this conundrum-both ominous and hopeful.' - Eric Stover is Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and the author of The Witnesses: War Crimes and the Promise of Justice in The Hague

'This volume explores some of the conundrums and complexities of the political apology. By examining cases arising in a number of national contexts, it provides a valuable contribution to the vibrant debate over the usefulness of apologies for past political misdeeds. Anyone examining this area will have to wrestle with it.' - John Torpey, Professor of Sociology, The Graduate Centre, City University of New York, USA.