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Reconciliation in South Africa: Defining success

Borer, Tristan Anne
June 4, 2015

Source: (2001) Kroc Institute Occasional Paper 20:OP:1. South Bend, Indiana: University of Notre Dame, The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

A question often asked of any program or process is the question of effectiveness. Did a program or process achieve the goals or results set for it? This question or questions like it are often raised in relation to the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). What good did it do? What did it accomplish? Did it work? In this paper, Borer investigates the connection between the term “reconciliation�? and the term “success�? with respect to the results of the TRC’s work. The aim is twofold: (1) provide an analytical framework clarifying the term “reconciliation�? and various understandings or uses of it, especially in the South African context; and (2) examine the term “success�? and issues concerning measures of success.

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