Reconciliation is a concept that resists easy definition. Almost invariably invoked in post-conflict peacebuilding and transitional justice, it is just as often resisted and railed against by communities affected by conflict. Whilst there is consensus that reconciliation is about building or rebuilding relationships, there is vast disagreement on what this means and what it might entail. Reconciliation is a contested and historically contingent concept and practice, shaped by tradition and global norms and reframed in local practices.

Rachel Kerr traces the layered meanings and paradoxical nature of reconciliation: the demands to pursue justice and peace; to remember and to forget; to reckon with divisions in the past and to imagine a shared future. With clarity and compassion, she engages with diverse reconciliatory approaches and explores their relationship to peace, justice, forgiveness, truth and repair, memory, art, dialogue and resistance. Drawing on historical vignettes, contemporary case studies and interdisciplinary research, Kerr examines reconciliation's promise and limits as a space to negotiate complexity and contradiction.

Reconciliation is a critical resource for anyone interested in one of the most pressing security challenges of our time.

Rachel Kerr is Professor of War and Society in the Department of War Studies at King's College London.