Reconstructing Restorative Justice Philosophy

’Gavrielides and Artinopoulou propose a reconstructed philosophy of restorative justice that is much more expansive and inclusive, much less either/or, than the usual approach. For the restorative justice movement to progress, they argue, we first must reconcile the internal tensions identified by the authors in this volume: conceptual, philosophical, political, personal. Their proposed reconstructed philosophy helps point a direction but in addition, they also suggest some rules for moving in this direction, asking those of us working in and advocating for restorative justice to redirect some of our energies. The methodology the editors adopted for this volume is also significant. Instead of limiting contributions to empirical analysis, they encouraged authors to write freely from a variety of sources and perspectives. As the library recall notice says, this book is long overdue.’ Howard Zehr, Eastern Mennonite University, USA ’No one will be able to read this book without wishing they were there for the journey that gave it birth. Rich outcomes are enabled by richness of process. This book succeeds in drawing us into the journey of its travelers and is a grand exercise in critical retrieval, revival, renewal of those teachings, ancient and recent. There is a great, enduring core of restorative justice teachings that has an increasingly global quality about it. This fine collection helps us renew and reconstruct the core of restorative justice teachings at their holistic philosophical foundations while also helping us to look at them with wider historical and cultural lenses. As the Epilogue reminds us, restorative justice lives and evolves in the hands of this generation of travelers on our planet. Our obligation, the Epilogue sums up, is not to be the kind of philosophers whose aim is to define restorative justice more carefully, because if we define water too narrowly, we prevent people from seeing its other properties.’ John Braithwaite, Australi