Irreconcilable times

Mookherjee, Nayanika

Abstract

In Denktagebuch (Thought diary, 1950-73), Hannah Arendt wrote that acts which cannot be forgiven are beyond punishment and hence cannot be reconciled to. In this essay, I draw from Arendt to further theorize and extend the concept of irreconciliation. I draw together ethnographic material, historical material, documents, media reports, and reviews during this era of irreconcilability which includes Black Lives Matter; the memorialization debates on the removal of statues of enslavers; the history of slavery in the United Kingdom; and the ‘harmony ideology’ experienced by BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) academics within UK organizations linked to long-term discrimination. I argue for the concept of irreconciliation as a bulwark against impunity, against a ‘window-dressed’, symbolic performance of redress, and to be able to echo Arendt's words that ‘this’ – any original cause of injustice – ‘ought never to have happened’.

Citation

Mookherjee, N. (2022). Irreconcilable times. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 28(S1), 153-178. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.13760

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 4, 2022
• Online Publication Date: May 20, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Jun 28, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 29, 2022
• Journal: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
• Print ISSN: 1359-0987
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9655
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: S1
• Pages: 153-178
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.13760
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1200640