Review of Elazar Barkan and Alexander Karn’s Taking Wrongs Seriously: Apologies and Reconciliation

Abstract

In their important and thought-provoking book, Elazar Barkan and Alexander Karn draw together the work of 15 scholars to examine the function and limitations of apology in promoting dialogue and cooperation between groups confronting one another over past injustices. Placing their work at the conjunction between realism and idealism they note that 'the essays...seek to explain how and to what degree apology injects an idealist component into realist political discourse' (p.5).

Keywords: apologies, reconciliation, dispute resolution