Introduction: Reconciliation - A Transformatory Process Across Culture and Society

Abstract

Reconciliation is an increasingly popular theme in the literature along with practices of conflict transformation and peacebuilding. It is a popular but at the same time ambiguous tool through which to address, minimise and prevent the effects of violence on individuals and society (Galtung in Reconstruction, reconciliation and resolution. Lexington Books, Lanham, pp. 3-23, 2001). Violent conflicts have discernible effects on individuals, families and social groups. It disintegrates families, alters people's attitudes and belief systems, induces pervasive social cleavages, and when violence occurs in armed conflicts, it produces victims and perpetrators who often live side-by-side during and even after the episodes of violence.