In the Name of History
Published on 10. December 2019
140 pages
978-963-386-349-7 (ISBN)
Description
In this book Joan Wallach Scott discusses the role history has played as an arbiter of right and wrong and of those who claim to act in its name-"in the name of history." Scott investigates three different instances in which repudiation of the past was conceived as a way to a better future: the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1946, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1996, and the ongoing movement for reparations for slavery in the United States.
Scott shows how in these cases history was not only used to explain the past but to produce a particular future. Yet both past and future were subject to the political realities of their time and defined in terms of moral absolutes, often leading to deep contradictions. These three instances demonstrate that history is not an impartial truth, rather its very meaning is constructed by those who act in its name.
Scott shows how in these cases history was not only used to explain the past but to produce a particular future. Yet both past and future were subject to the political realities of their time and defined in terms of moral absolutes, often leading to deep contradictions. These three instances demonstrate that history is not an impartial truth, rather its very meaning is constructed by those who act in its name.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Budapest
Hungary
Target group
Professional and scholarly
File size
1,09 MB
ISBN-13
978-963-386-349-7 (9789633863497)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Joan Wallach Scott
In the Name of History
Book
12/2019
Central European University Press
€34.81
Available (delivery time upon request)
Content
Introduction: The "Historical Operation"
Chapter 1. The Nuremberg Tribunal, 1946
Chapter 2. South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 1996
Chapter 3. The Movement for Reparations for Slavery in the United States
Epilogue: The "Lessons of History"
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index
Chapter 1. The Nuremberg Tribunal, 1946
Chapter 2. South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 1996
Chapter 3. The Movement for Reparations for Slavery in the United States
Epilogue: The "Lessons of History"
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index
