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Conference Announcement
Theme: Reconciliation and Justice
Type: 5th Intercultural Interdisciplinary Colloquium
Institution: polylog: Forum for Intercultural Philosophy
Institute for Science and Art (IWK)
Viennese Society for Intercultural Philosophy (WiGiP)
Institute of Philosophy, University of Vienna
Forum Scientiarum, University of Tübingen
Location: Vienna (Austria)
Date: 20.–22.5.2015
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Since the 1990s, there has been a notable reception of the notion of
reconciliation in political theory. While before it was conceived
primarily as a moral and eschatological dimension in religious
contexts, as well as it represents, on an individual level, a
well-established concept in psychology, today the interest focuses
more on its political potency; not least because of the
implementation of a whole series of truth and reconciliation
commissions, from Chile to South Africa, from Morocco to Sri Lanka
and on to East Timor. The experiences gained there did not only
change political practice, but also stimulated theoretical
reflection. With this, the notion of reconciliation becomes situated
in a new semantic context: for example, it is understood, beyond the
personal level, as a way of coping with the past or as a method of
conflict resolution with a national scope.
Crucial for this idea is the focus on the role of the concrete acting
subjects, in their immediate concerns, social entanglements and
ethical responsibilities, as persons and also as groups. As a kind of
social cement for public welfare, person-oriented reconciliation is
then undeniably superior to case-oriented justice, which is concerned
with balancing divergent interests. As for the Western context, there
exist few approaches to this notion of reconciliation in personal and
communitarian orientation, particularly in some formulations of
Jewish political thought, for example with Hermann Cohen or Hannah
Arendt. Nevertheless, as of now reconciliation continues to be a less
reflected upon concept. This is made painfully and impressively
manifest, for instance, by its absence in many philosophical
dictionaries.
There are plenty of open questions which demand clarification with
regard to the possible role of the notion of reconciliation in
political theory, especially in its relation to diverse conceptions
of justice. Is it possible and does it make sense to expand local
models of social community to society as a whole? How can
reconciliation succeed on a national level? In the end, is
reconciliation actually the right way? When might it possibly wrong
to initiate an attempt at reconciliation? What preconditions allow
reconciliation? What factors make it impossible? To what extent does
the process of reconciliation include matters of justice? Do
reconciliation and justice depend on each other, are they in
contrast, or do they behave independently? How do political practices
of reconciliation and justice differ in an intercultural sense? How
relevant are the ideas of conscientisation, reparation and punishment
to the processes of reconciliation and justice? What is the purpose
of reconciliation and justice under the force of power politics?
The colloquium intends to create a space for the discussion of such
issues with an intercultural orientation and it seeks to explore
further the dimensions of reconciliation from a philosophical
perspective, particularly as interconnected with the notion of
justice.
Programme
Wednesday, 20 May 2015
9:00 Welcome
Anke Graneß & Bertold Bernreuter
9:10 Introduction
Anke Graneß (University of Vienna, Austria)
Theorizing on Reconciliation
9:40 Niels Weidtmann (University of Tübingen, Germany):
»Menschliche und kulturelle Würde als Voraussetzungen von
interkultureller Versöhnung«
10:50 Christoper Peys (University of St Andrews, United
Kingdom):
»Reconceptualizing reconciliation and justice:
Repositioning the 'self' on a reconfigured spectrum of
political power«
12:00 Sergej Seitz (University of Vienna, Austria):
»Gewalt, Vergebung und Gerechtigkeit: Drei Modi der
Temporalität bei Emmanuel Levinas«
13:00 Lunch
15:00 Francesco Ferrari (University of Jena, Germany):
»Archeology and teleology of reconciliation. Perspectives
from Paul Ricœur«
16:10 Franziska Dübgen (University of Kassel, Germany):
»Limits to forgiveness?«
17:10 Break
Reconciliation and Justice in Islam
17:40 Najwa Belkziz (University of Melbourne, Australia):
»Traditions of transitional justice in Islam«
18:40 Discussion
19:10 Joint Dinner
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Reconciliation and Justice in Africa
9:00 Thaddeus Metz (University of Johannesburg, South Africa):
»An African theory of national reconciliation«
10:10 Jonathan Chimakonam (University of Calabar, Nigeria):
»Reconciliation versus justice in F. U. Okafor's Igbo-African
jurisprudence and its relevance to modern political theory: A
critical reflection«
11:20 James Ogude (University of Pretoria, South Africa):
»Shards of justice and arrested reconciliation in the
aftermath of the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya«
12:20 Lunch
14:20 Christine Schliesser (Zurich University, Switzerland):
»The case for transformative justice in reconciliation
processes. An argument in view of post-genocide Rwanda«
Zen and Reconciliation
15:30 Ursula Baatz (University of Vienna, Austria):
»Zen in Auschwitz. Prozesse der Versöhnung im interreligiösen
und interkulturellen Kontext«
16:30 Break
17:00 Bernadette Casu (University of Innsbruck, Austria):
»The aspect of forgiveness in reconciliation processes. A
journey into the world of non-duality in Zen Buddhism«
18:00 Discussion
18:30 Break
Keynote Address
19:00 Gail Presbey (University of Detroit Mercy, USA):
»Odera Oruka and Mohandas Gandhi on reconciliation«
Friday, 22 May 2015
Reconciliation and Justice in Japan
9:00 Naoko Kumagai (International University of Japan, Japan):
»Absence of guilt in Japan's reconciliation with former
Korean comfort women«
Reconciliation and Justice in Latin America
10:10 Josefina Echavarría Alvarez (University of Innsbruck,
Austria):
»The art of social healing in Colombia«
11:10 Break
11:40 Bertold Bernreuter (National Autonomous University of
Mexico, Mexico):
»Versöhnung und Widerstand. Chancen und Grenzen indigener
Gerechtigkeitskonzeptionen in Mexiko«
12:50 Final discussion
14:00 Close of the colloquium
Venue
The colloquium takes place at the Institute for Science and Art in
Vienna. It is located within a 8 minutes walking distance from the
underground station "Schottentor" or a minute from tramway stop
"Schlickgasse" (Line D).
Institute for Science and Art – Institut für Wissenschaft und Kunst
Berggasse 17/1
A-1090 Wien
Tel./Fax: +43 1 3174342
Web: www.iwk.ac.at
Organisers
Anke Graneß (University of Vienna)
Bertold Bernreuter (National Autonomous University of Mexico)
Niels Weidtmann (University of Tübingen)
Conference website:
http://ev.polylog.org/colloquium-en.htm
Contact:
Dr. Anke Graneß
Institute of Philosophy
University of Vienna
Universitätsstr. 7 (NIG)
A-1010 Wien
Austria
Tel.: +43 1 4277-46475
Fax: +43 1 4277-846475
Email: colloquium2...@polylog.org
Web: http://ev.polylog.org/colloquium-en.htm
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InterPhil List Administration:
http://interphil.polylog.org
Intercultural Philosophy Calendar:
http://cal.polylog.org
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