The Sins of the Nation and the Ritual of Apologies

In the last years of the twentieth century, political leaders the world over began to apologize for wrongs in their nations' pasts. Many dismissed these apologies as "mere words," cynical attempts to avoid more costly forms of reparation; others rejected them as inappropriate encroachments into politics or forms of action that belonged in personal relationships or religion. Yet, political apologies have gripped nations and provoked tremendous resistance. To understand apology's extraordinary political emergence, we have to suspend our automatic interpretations of what it means for nations to apologize and interrogate their meaning afresh. Taking the reader on a journey through apology's religious history and contemporary apologetic dramas, this book argues that the apologetic phenomenon marks a new stage in our recognition of the importance of collective responsibility, the place of ritual in addressing national wrongs, and the contribution that practices that once belonged in the religious sphere might make to contemporary politics. Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 11 Introduction: The Apology and Political Theory......Page 13 CHAPTER PLAN......Page 22 1 The Apology Phenomenon......Page 26 (i) Holocaust Apologies......Page 28 (ii) Historical Apologies: Race, Imperialism, and Colonialism......Page 38 2. TRANSITIONAL APOLOGIES......Page 48 2 Apologies as Speech Acts......Page 55 1. THE PERFORMATIVE POSSIBILITIES OF SPEECH AND THE DEVALUATION OF POLITICAL RHETORIC......Page 58 2. CATEGORIES OF PERFORMATIVES......Page 61 3. HAPPY AND UNHAPPY APOLOGIES......Page 66 4. UPTAKE AND DISCURSIVE STRUCTURE......Page 70 1. AN ALTERNATIVE TEMPLATE FOR APOLOGY?......Page 77 2. YOM KIPPUR: JUDAISM’S COLLECTIVE APOLOGY......Page 81 (i) Ancient Rituals of Repentance: The Temple-Era Yom Kippur Ritual......Page 83 (ii) Stories of the Origin of Yom Kippur......Page 97 iii) Etymology......Page 100 3. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SPEECH: EXTERNALITY AND INTERNALITY......Page 104 4. APOLOGY, THE ABSOLUTE, AND TIME......Page 108 4 The Privatization of Repentance in Christianity......Page 120 (i) Jesus and the Gospels......Page 123 (ii) The Early Patristic Church......Page 125 (iii) The Eastern Church and the Shift to Inwardness......Page 130 (iv) Canonical Penance from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries......Page 131 2. THE PRIVATIZATION OF PENANCE THROUGH THE MIDDLE AGES......Page 135 3. THE SACRAMENTAL RITE OF PENANCE TO VATICAN II IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH......Page 141 4. COMMUNAL REPENTANCE IN THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES......Page 145 5. TWENTIETH-CENTURY ROMAN CATHOLIC REFORM......Page 147 6. COMMUNAL REPENTANCE IN THE CHURCH AND POLITICAL APOLOGY......Page 152 5 Australia’s Divided History......Page 154 1. AUSTRALIAN NEO-COLONIALISM: THE INVISIBILITY AND EMERGENCE OF BLACK AUSTRALIA......Page 156 2. BRINGING VIOLATION INTO THE FAMILY: THE REMOVAL OF ABORIGINAL CHILDREN......Page 167 3. LOCATING A FRAMEWORK FOR REPAIR: THE IDEA OF THE APOLOGY......Page 176 6 Saying Sorry in Australia......Page 183 1. THE APOLOGY WAVE......Page 186 2. INTERPRETATIONS OF APOLOGY IN THE AUSTRALIAN CONTEXT: RESPONSIBILITY AND THE NATURE OF GUILT......Page 191 3. REFRAMING APOLOGY: THE INTRODUCTION OF SHAME......Page 197 4. SHAME, TIME, AND HISTORY......Page 205 5. NATIONAL PRIDE AND HISTORY’S DEFENCE......Page 211 6. APOLOGY’S NARCISSISM?......Page 213 7. THE APOLOGY......Page 222 7 Apology’s Responsibility......Page 227 1. RECENT ATTEMPTS TO RECONCEPTUALIZE COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY......Page 230 2. DASEIN AND THE SHIFT TO A LOGIC OF IDENTITY......Page 235 3. CASTORIADIS, MEAD, AND THE SOCIO-NORMATIVE BASIS OF ACTION......Page 240 4. WHAT FOLLOWS?......Page 255 8 Apology as Political Action......Page 259 1. IF WE COULD APOLOGIZE POLITICALLY, HOW WOULD WE?......Page 262 2. APOLOGY AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE POLITICAL......Page 270 Bibliography......Page 277 Index......Page 291 This study examines the apology's extraordinary political emergence and significance to ideas of collective responsibility, ritual, and contemporary politics