Breaking the Cycles of Hatred: Memory, Law, and Repair

Violence so often begets violence. Victims respond with revenge only to inspire seemingly endless cycles of retaliation. Conflicts between nations, between ethnic groups, between strangers, and between family members differ in so many ways and yet often share this dynamic. In this powerful and timely book Martha Minow and others ask: What explains these cycles and what can break them? What lessons can we draw from one form of violence that might be relevant to other forms? Can legal responses to violence provide accountability but avoid escalating vengeance? If so, what kinds of legal institutions and practices can make a difference? What kinds risk failure? Breaking the Cycles of Hatred represents a unique blend of political and legal theory, one that focuses on the double-edged role of memory in fueling cycles of hatred and maintaining justice and personal integrity. Its centerpiece comprises three penetrating essays by Minow. She argues that innovative legal institutions and practices, such as truth commissions and civil damage actions against groups that sponsor hate, often work better than more conventional criminal proceedings and sanctions. Minow also calls for more sustained attention to the underlying dynamics of violence, the connections between intergroup and intrafamily violence, and the wide range of possible responses to violence beyond criminalization. A vibrant set of freestanding responses from experts in political theory, psychology, history, and law examines past and potential avenues for breaking cycles of violence and for deepening our capacity to avoid becoming what we hate. The topics include hate crimes and hate-crimes legislation, child sexual abuse and the statute of limitations, and the American kidnapping and internment of Japanese Latin Americans during World War II. Commissioned by Nancy Rosenblum, the essays are by Ross E. Cheit, Marc Galanter, Fredrick C. Harris, Judith Lewis Herman, Carey Jaros, Frederick M. Lawrence, Austin Sarat, Ayelet Shachar, Eric K. Yamamoto, and Iris Marion Young.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments vii Introduction: Memory, Law, and Repair by NANCY L. ROSENBLUM 1 1. Breaking the Cycles of Hatred 14 Memory and Hate: Are There Lessons from Around the World? 14 Regulating Hatred: Whose Speech, Whose Crimes, Whose Power? 31 Between Nations and Between Intimates: Can Law Stop the Violence? 56 by MARTHA MINOW 2. Justice and the Experience of Injustice by NANCY L. ROSENBLUM 77 3. Righting Old Wrongs by MARC GALANTER 107 4. Reluctant Redress: The U.S. Kidnapping and Internment of Japanese Latin Americans by ERIC K. YAMAMOTO 132 5. Memory, Hate, and the Criminalization of Bias-Motivated Violence: Lessons from Great Britain by FREDERICK M. LAWRENCE 140 6. Collective Memory, Collective Action, and Black Activism in the 1960s by FREDRICK C. HARRIS 154 7. Beyond Memory: Child Sexual Abuse and the Statute of Limitations by ROSS E. CHEIT AND CAREY JAROS 170 8. Peace on Earth Begins at Home: Reflections from the Women's Liberation Movement by JUDITH LEWIS HERMAN 188 9. The Thin Line between Imposition and Consent: A Critique of Birthright Membership Regimes and Their Implications by AYELET SHACHAR 200 10. When Memory Speaks: Remembrance and Revenge in Unforgiven by AUSTIN SARAT 236 11. Power, Violence, and Legitimacy: A Reading of Hannah Arendt in an Age of Police Brutality and Humanitarian Intervention by IRIS MARION YOUNG 260 Notes on Contributors 289 Index 291

About the Author :
Martha Minow is Professor of Law at Harvard University. Her books include Partners, Not Rivals, Between Vengeance and Forgiveness, Not Only for Myself, and Making All the Difference. She recently served on the Independent International Commission on Kosovo. Nancy L. Rosenblum is Professor of Government at Harvard University. She is the author of Membership and Morals, editor of Obligations of Citizenship and Demands of Faith, and coeditor of Civil Society and Government (all Princeton).

Review :
"For policy-makers responsible for reconstructing Iraq or seeking to follow a road map to peace in the Middle East as well as for lay people who care about international relations, this book offers needed reflection on the conditions necessary for resolution of intense and long-standing conflicts... Through a unique blend of legal and political theory and a fascinating variety of insights and connections, the authors of Breaking the Cycles of Hatred have produced a highly commendable set of essays that provide a thoughtful perspective for the events of our day. They merit reading and re-reading."--Annette Johnson, The New York Law Journal