Towards inclusive remembrance after the 'Troubles': a South African perspective

This paper is a reflection on an underlying moral dynamic of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), namely inclusive moral remembrance. The TRC strove to provide an inclusive forum for many of those harmed and those responsible for harming on all sides of the conflict, in contrast to the exclusivist, ethnic remembrance characterising Afrikaner nationalist remembrance after the Anglo Boer War. Examples from the TRC process highlight the tension-filled balancing acts required to remember the horrific suffering of many, without forgetting the humanity of those responsible; to celebrate our ability to transcend the horrible, without denying a shared potential for evil. These philosophical reflections are hopefully of some relevance to current debates on these islands about appropriate, creative responses to the hurt and harming associated with the “troubles”.