The Development of a Conceptual Framework for Evaluating Efforts to Promote Political Reconciliation
FAIN: FT-55539-08
Colleen Marie Murphy
Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (College Station, TX 77843-0001)
Political Reconciliation, my book-length project, provides an analysis of what political reconciliation generally entails and of its moral significance. Part I describes three normative frameworks for conceptualizing how relationships are damaged during civil war and repressive rule and in what ways they should be repaired. Part II addresses the question of how to repair and re-build political relationships. My specific objective during June and July 2008 is to develop a theoretical framework for evaluating the effectiveness and moral justifiability of processes of reconciliation. Calls for reconciliation characteristically occur in the context of a transition to democracy. Thus, I expect my project will have appeal to scholars working in the humanities and on issues of political transformation and democracy. This project also contributes to the NEH's current emphasis on democracy.