The question of reparations

The notion of reparations has been a central concern in the 'postcolonial' discussion as a possible strategy to find sustainable solutions to colonial questions. However, reparation also concerns other kinds of gross human rights violations. In writing this blog, we have tried to illustrate the connections between the consequences of colonization such as racism, classism, sexism and other forms of suppression. The question of reparation should be answered by the ones who have been exploited and suppressed, and this substantial demand requires support from international policymakers like the United Nations and other international institutions. The role of academia, however, and especially social sciences to discuss and bring up evidence of everyday life of people is essential and undeniable. We aim to investigate the question of reparations by offering multifaceted points of view, from how international and national institutions formulate and implement claims for redress, to how grassroots movements, communities and individuals (re)define and (re)negotiate their ideas of reparations.

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This blog consists of two approaches, bottom-up and top-down, without ignoring the fact that all levels are entangled. The author’s aim is to cover a range of possible answers to the question of reparation and extend the conversation, based on literature review, fieldwork and personal experiences. The topics we deal with range from slavery and racism, to occupation and genocides, patriarchy and sexism, war and forced migration. In this brief introduction we outline the path on which the blog posts were based.

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Reparations are a means – recognized in international law – to acknowledge the gross violation of human rights and repair the damage done (Brennan 2017, 154). However, as for the transatlantic slave trade and chattel slavery, recognition is a fact but reparations have not been made available for those who still suffer racism today (Ibid.).

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Former colonizer-countries owe their flourishing economy and financial health to this legacy. Although they are indebted to this legacy, contemporary debates tend to minimize the impact this still has today. They do so by claiming this belongs to the past and has nothing to do with contemporary governments or by emphasizing the fruits of the ‘civilization project’ that colonizers imposed (construction of roads, schools, rails etc.). Brennan argues that the legacy of colonialism has been denied because of institutional racism (Brennan 2017, 159). Some governments have chosen to take responsibility to repair the wrongs that their predecessors have done, some have chosen not to and discard the ‘notion of intergenerational governmental responsibility’ (Ibid., 9, 154). She states that the ideology of racism still informs institutional racism by making and keeping states and institutions wealthy through the oppression of black people (Ibid., 154).

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Global reparation movements have arisen, like the CARICOM Reparations Commission, established by the heads of government of the West Indies in 2013, the National Commission on Reparation, set up by the Jamaican government in 2009, the Pan-African Reparations Coalition of Europe (PARCOE), a grassroots alliance of organizations, groups and campaigns based in the UK, and the African Reparations Movement, based in the UK and Durban (Brennan 2017, 187-188). They share a common struggle to “counter those critics who argue that reparations are not due on legal or moral grounds because, it is argued, there are no direct survivors, it was not illegal at the time to own slaves, or it was too long ago and there is no valid claim” (Ibid., 187-189). Other organizations are demanding redress of historical injustices by claiming the return of sacred objects, skeletal remains, looted treasures etc. (Sundar 2004, 147). Moreover, social movements like the Black Lives Matter movement engage in politics of reparations (Thompson 2018, 248). They challenge the politics of violence by focusing on healing and care, centering on the survivor, involving the community and seeking forms of non-violent justice (Ibid.).

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Nevertheless, Schirrer argues that an international framework for reparation claims is still missing (Schirrer 2020). Although appeals for mass reparations date back to the 19th century through people such as Blyden, the father of Pan-Africanism who fought for black equality, conversations have been shifting from apologies or mere symbolic appeals to material reparations within governmental and international organizations (Brennan 2017, 155; Schirrer 2020). The rise in discourse of reparations, apologies, reconciliation, restitution, truth commissions and war crimes tribunals points to a certain extent at the willingness of doing justice in international relations (Sundar 2004, 147). However, in showing morality, states often conceal the ongoing injustices and inequalities (Ibid.). Anthropology should be looking at discourses of violence that enter the everyday lives and are found in “[ ..] transnational flows of ideas of security, terror, and "normal" states of the economy and the global reach of a few media organizations” (Sundar 2004, 157).