Agonistic Reconciliation : Politics of Reconciliation for Peace and Democracy

This article discusses agonistic reconciliation to expand the political horizons of reconciliation and explores the practical tasks of doing so. Reckoning with the violent past and opening the future are an inherently political affair. Power structure inherited from past evil deeds constantly threaten truth and justice and undermine civic politics. Reconciliation must therefore be understood as a political act, not a moral one. Agonism is a theory of democracy, explaining ever-present conflict after violence in the light of political contestation. Understanding reconciliation through the lens of agonism is not about problem-solving or moralizing about historical wrongs, but about restoring political relationships between incompatible groups. Political relations are defined as the contestation of interests by political groups and mutual understanding and respect through a process of choice. To realize agonistic reconciliation, pluralistic narratives and memories of political wrongdoing must be ensured, and the transformation of institutions that enabled violence, as well as the transformation of exclusionary institutions for political minorities and groups into egalitarian ones, must be addressed. It must also be accompanied by civic education that cultivates citizens' political attitudes in the face of past misdeeds.