Abortive Rituals: Historical Apologies in the Global Era

Abstract

Collective historical apologies are increasing worldwide. Navigating ambiguously between moral, historical and legal grounds, these rituals of apology create pastness by connecting existing collectivities to past ones that either perpetuated wrongs or were victimized. This assumed continuity projects onto these collectivities aspects of ahistorical, liberal subjects, who must now not only address historical wrongs in pragmatic terms (such as compensation) but repent on the global stage. However, these apologies are destined to be abortive rituals, whose very conditions of emergence deny the possibility of transformation.