Apologia Politica

the long version

"Apologia Politica defines and explores the nature of public apology, or what Nicholas Tavuchis calls "an apology from the many to the many." Focusing on collectivities and their agencies in the apology process, Girma Negash examines public apology as ethical and public discourse, recommends criteria for the apology process, analyzes historical and contemporary cases, and formulates a guide to ethical conduct in public apologies. This is a groundbreaking work, elaborating upon the interface between ethics and statecraft in the domain of public apology. Using democracy, moral identity, and accumulated wisdom as a yardstick in the prescription of ethical conduct, Apologia Politica proposes four imperatives for successful public apology: acknowledgment, public exposure and truth-telling, remorse through public record, and, finally, defining identity for accountability. It is a valuable resource for those interested in peace-building or concerned about the relationships between Germany and Israel, Japan and its neighboring countries, the international community and Rwanda, and the United States and China."--Jacket.