Bearing Witness: Women and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South AfricaPeople who witness acts of terror and violence are often called after the event to bear witness to what they saw. In cases where this violence is inflicted by the state upon its own people, the process of bearing witness is both politically complex and traumatic for the individual involved. Independent trials and commissions have become important mechanisms through which the truth of past violence is sought in democratising states, but to date there has been little close attention to the processes and complexity of the work of such institutions.Fiona Ross's fascinating study of the process of bearing witness is the first book to examine the gendered dimensions of this topic from an anthropological and ethnographic viewpoint. Taking as a key example the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, Ross explores women's relationships to testimony, particularly the extent to which women avoid talking about or are silent about certain forms of violence and suffering. Offering a wealth of first-hand examples, Ross approaches a more subtle understanding of the achievements and the limitations of testimony as a measure of suffering and recovery generally. Is it, she asks, the panacea it is usually seen as? Or do conventional discourses on human rights, suffering and reconciliation oversimplify an altogether more complex and problematic process? |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 50
Page 65
... woman detainee : ' [ The police ] may try many ways to make you feel that you should not be here , a woman should not be here . You are here because you are not the right kind of woman . Constantly undermining women , saying you are the ...
... woman detainee : ' [ The police ] may try many ways to make you feel that you should not be here , a woman should not be here . You are here because you are not the right kind of woman . Constantly undermining women , saying you are the ...
Page 100
... woman who had been the prison wardress . The woman , now retired and running a bicycle shop , asked her forgiveness and invited her to visit . Mrs Khutwane said that when she visited , the woman introduced her to her husband , saying ...
... woman who had been the prison wardress . The woman , now retired and running a bicycle shop , asked her forgiveness and invited her to visit . Mrs Khutwane said that when she visited , the woman introduced her to her husband , saying ...
Page 122
... woman with whom she had been detained : neither trusted the Security Branch and the woman was afraid to return to Cape Town alone . Later , Nowi's parents contacted her family and she was collected from Zwelethemba . Nowi remains ...
... woman with whom she had been detained : neither trusted the Security Branch and the woman was afraid to return to Cape Town alone . Later , Nowi's parents contacted her family and she was collected from Zwelethemba . Nowi remains ...
Contents
Testimonial Practices | 27 |
The Self in Extremity | 51 |
Narrative Threads | 77 |
Copyright | |
5 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Bearing Witness: Women and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Fiona C. Ross No preview available - 2002 |
Bearing Witness: Women and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South ... Fiona C. Ross No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
African Afrikaans Alex Boraine amnesty apartheid arrested asked Boland boycott Cape Town Casspir cell cent Chapter child Commission's comrades context cultural data No data death deponents described detained detention Durban effects Emergency exile forms gender Gobodo-Madikizela gross violations harm healing held HRVC human rights violations identified Internal Security Act interrogation involved Johannesburg Khutwane's testimony killed Mirriam Moleleki mobilisation mother narrative Neliswa Noluntu Nothemba Nowi Nyameka Goniwe organisations pain policemen political activists political activities prison protest public hearings rape recognised Reconciliation Commission Refused to divulge resistance SAIRR sexual violation silence social solitary confinement South Africa statements story struggle suffering tell told the Commission torture township toyi-toyi Truth and Reconciliation Truth Commission Veena Das victims violations of human violence Volume Five Volume Four Wendy Orr Western Cape woman women testified Women's Hearing Worcester Xhosa Xoliswa youth Yvonne Khutwane Zwelethemba