BI ArticleReconciliation Part 1 - What is Reconciliation?
Reconciliation is seen as the ultimate goal of peacebuilding, in which parties re-establish relationships and attempt to move beyond the past.
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Constructive Conflict Guide >
Civic Knowledge and Skills That We Can Use to Help Ourselves and Our Society More Constructively Handle Intractable Conflict >
Reconciliation
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BI Article
Reconciliation Part 1 - What is Reconciliation?
Reconciliation is seen as the ultimate goal of peacebuilding, in which parties re-establish relationships and attempt to move beyond the past.
BI Article
Reconciliation Part 2 -Making Reconciliation Happen
Pursuing truth, accountability, apology, and structural and policy changes all contribute to reconciliation.
BI Article
Retrospective Reconciliation: Looking Back to Right Past Wrongs -- Part II
A continuation of our discussion about ways in which past wrongs can be made right and/or forgiven.
BI Article
Retrospective Reconciliation: Looking Back to Right Past Wrongs -- Part I
This video explores the processes of reconciliation that look backward towards wrongs done in the past, seeking truth and justice and sometimes mercy.
BI Article
Reconciliation as a Noun and a Verb (Outcome and Process)
This video explains how reconciliation is both an outcome and the processes used to reach that outcome.
BI Article
Ingredients of Reconciliation
A discussion of what is needed to create reconciliation.
BI Article
John Paul Lederach's "Meeting Place"
Think you know what peace, truth, justice, mercy, and reconciliation mean? Which is more important? Can you have all? This exercise forces a deeper look.
BI Article
Complexity-Oriented, Massively Parallel Reconciliation
This video applies the notions of complexity and "massively-parallel peacebuilding" to the concept of reconciliation.
BI Article
Ebrahim Rasool on What America Might Learn From South Africa's 300+ Years of Struggle
A report on a talk by the former U.S. Ambassador from South Africa, on what the South African struggle for racial justice can teach Americans.
BI Article
Chip Hauss - On Coups and Reconciliation
Chip Hauss's reflection on the juxtaposition of the Jan. 6 events in Washington D.C. and his work on reconciliation.
BI Article
Avoiding a Category 5 Socio-political Hurricane
We need to figure out how we can live together if we want to avoid a threatening disaster. Prospective reconciliation helps us do that.
BI Article
Positive Thinking
Why thinking positively about ourselves, our families, communities, nation and world will get us farther than focusing on the bad aspects of "the other."
BI Article
The Many Types of Reconciliation
Prospective, retrospective, unilateral, bilateral, multilateral, historic, and contemporaneous reconciliation---how are they different? Which to use when?
BI Article
Update and Current Implications of Chip Hauss's 2003 Essay on Reconciliation
Four updates (from 2017, 2018, and 2020) to Chip Hauss's original essay on Reconciliation.
BI Article
Reconciliation "Pieces" - Parts 2, 3 and 4: Truth, Mercy, and Peace
Progress toward reconciling today's deeply divided democracies requires the balanced and simultaneous pursuit of peace, justice, truth, and mercy.
BI Article
U.S. Reconciliation in 2020 and Beyond
Thoughts about what political reconciliation in the U.S. might look like in 2020 and beyond.
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Peace
More than just the absence of war, peace is the willingness of people (and nation states) to resolve their conflicts through nonviolent means. Some people include justice in their definition of "peace," but we keep it separate, adhering to Lederach's notion that peace, justice, truth, and mercy together are the ingredients of reconciliation (which many people would equate with "peace" alone.)
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Justice
Justice is fairness. It can be measured in many different ways -- in terms of equity, equality, "just deserts," or need. It can be manifested in different ways: with retributive justice, restorative justice, distributive justice, or procedural justice, among others.
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Truth
Truth should be simple, but it is anything but. It involves determining and agreeing on facts. But in intractable conflict, the facts, be they historical, scientific, or facts about who did what and when, are almost always contested. Finding truth involves developing narratives that most everyone can agree upon. And agreeing on those truths then reinforces trust, a different, but related concept.
Subsidiary Folders
Apology, Forgiveness and Mercy
Lederach uses the term "mercy" in his theory of reconciliation, but we usually equate the concept with forgiveness, which is closely tied to apology. All three are involved in restoring a good relationship after a wrongdoing.
Colleague Activities
Watch accomplished experts offer hope on the path to reconciliation
These speakers address what reconciliation means to them. By considering their perspectives, we can begin to understand the complexity of reconciliation. These videos are an excellent reminder to resist easy answers.
Colleague Activities
The culture of Punishment: A Critical Approach
The May 2023 Issue of Peace in Progress, the magazine of the International Catalan Institute for Peace has ten articles about the downsides of punishment and constructive, restorative alternatives.
Colleague Activities
Indigenous voices on reconciliation
Do you ever feel that you'd like to advance the work of reconciliation, but you're confused or unsure where to begin? Videos from indigenous voices in Canada compiled by the Canadian Friends Service Committee can help.
BI Article
Reconciliation -- Original Essay from 2003
Reconciliation used to be a common conflict resolution goal. While it still may be for the peace-builders, it isn't sought by disputants nearly as much.
BI Article
Reconciliation - Update and Current Implications
A combination of four updates to Chip Hauss's 2003 blog post by Hauss and Heidi Burgess--bringing us up to fall 2020.