Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T06:30:51.364Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Framing Reparations Claims: Differences between the African and Jewish Social Movements for Reparations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2013

Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann  and
Anthony P. Lombardo
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Africans interested in reparations from the West frequently ask why the Jewish movement for reparations for the Holocaust was successful, whereas Africans have been unable to obtain reparations for the slave trade, colonialism, and post-colonial relations with the West. This article addresses this question using social movement theory and argues that success depends to a large extent on how the claim for reparations is framed. Past treatment of Africans by the West violated key contemporary norms of bodily integrity, equality, and private property. Yet the victims are no longer living, the perpetrators are diffuse, some of the harms were legal when they were committed, and the causal chain of harm is long and complex.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , April 2007 , pp. 27 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

African Reparations Movement, n.d. “The British and the Benin Bronzes.” www.arm.arc.co.uk/britishBenin.html.Google Scholar
Ajayi, Jacob Ade. 2002. “The Politics of Reparation in the Context of Globalisation.” Text of the Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola Lecture, African Studies Association, Washington, D.C., December 7.Google Scholar
Ba, Diadie. 2001. “Senegal's Wade Calls Slave Reparations Absurd.” Independent Online, August 11. www.iol.co.za/general/news/newsprint.php?art_id=qw997554422285B252&sf=68.Google Scholar
Bailey, Norman A. 1969. “Native and Labor Policy.” In Portuguese Africa: A Handbook, edited by Abshire, David M. and Samuels, Michael A.. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Barkan, Elezar. 2000. The Guilt of Nations: Restitution and Negotiating Historical Injustices. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, Frank R., and Jones, Bryan D.. 1991. “Agenda Dynamics and Policy Subsystems.” The Journal of Politics 53: 1044–74.Google Scholar
Bazyler, Michael J. 2003. Holocaust Justice: The Battle for Restitution in America's Courts. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
BBC News. 2000. “Belgian Apology to Rwanda.” April 7. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/Africa/705402.stm.Google Scholar
BBC News. 2002. “France gives overseas veterans more.” November 21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/l/hi/world/Europe/2498521.stm.Google Scholar
BBC News. 2002. “‘Hottentot Venus’ Goes Home.” April 29. http://news.bbc.co.uk/l/hi/world/europe/1957240.stm.Google Scholar
BBC News. 2002. “Lumumba's Son Hails Belgian Apology.” February 6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/l/hi/world/africa/1802929.stm.Google Scholar
BBC News. 2002. “Return of ‘Hottentot Venus’ Unites Bushmen.” May 6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/Africa/1971103.stm.Google Scholar
BBC News. 2003. “Zimbabwe Bird ‘Flies’ Home.” May 14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3028589.stm.Google Scholar
Benford, Robert D. 1993. “Frame Disputes within the Nuclear Disarmament Movement.” Social Forces 71 (3): 677–701.Google Scholar
Berger, Ronald J. 2002. Fathoming the Holocaust: A Social Problems Approach. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Black, Edwin. 2001. IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation. New York: Crown.Google Scholar
Bob, Clifford. 2002. “Globalization and the Social Construction of Human Rights Campaigns.” In Globalization and Human Rights, edited by Brysk, Alison, 133–47. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by Richardson, John G., 241–58. New York: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Brysk, Alison. 1995. “‘Hearts and Minds’: Bringing Symbolic Politics Back In.” Polity 27 (4): 559–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bush, George W. 2003. “President Bush Speaks at Goree Island in Senegal.” July 8. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/07/print/20030708-1.html.Google Scholar
Buxton, Nick. 2004. “Debt Cancellation and Civil Society: A Case Study of Jubilee 2000.” In Fighting for Human Rights, edited by Gready, Paul, 54–77. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chambre des Représentants (Belgium). 2001. “Parliamentary Committee of enquiry in charge of determining the exact circumstances of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba and the possible involvement of Belgian politicians: Summary of the activities, expert's report and full conclusions.” http://www.africawithin.com/lumumba/conclusions.htm.Google Scholar
Clinton, Bill. 1998. “Remarks at the Kisowera School in Mukono, Uganda.” March 24. http://clinton4.nara.gov/Africa/19980324–3374.html.Google Scholar
Clinton, Bill. 1998. “Remarks to Genocide Survivors in Kigali, Rwanda.” March 25. http://clinton4.nara.gov/textonly/Africa/19980325-16872.html.Google Scholar
Davis, David Brion. 1984. Slavery and Human Progress. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
du Plessis, Max. 2003. “Historical Injustice and International Law: An Exploratory Discussion of Reparation for Slavery.” Human Rights Quarterly 25: 624–59.Google Scholar
Ferree, Myra Marx, and Miller, Frederick D.. 1985. “Mobilization and Meaning: Toward an Integration of Social Psychological and Resource Perspectives on Social Movements.” Sociological Inquiry 55 (1): 39–61.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, Norman G. 2001. The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. 2nd ed. New York: Verso.Google Scholar
Finnemore, Martha. 1993. “International Organizations as Teachers of Norms: The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and Science Policy.” International Organization 47: 566–97.Google Scholar
France, . 2001 “La République française reconnait que la traite négrière transatlantique ainsi que la traite dans l'océan Indien… constituent un crime contre l'humanité.” Legifrance: Le journal officiel depuis 1990, loi no. 2001 434. May 21.Google Scholar
Freeman, Alan. 2003. “A Monumental Plunder: Italy Sets Out to Return Obelisk.” Globe and Mail (Canada), October 24.Google Scholar
Gamson, William A., Fireman, Bruce, and Rytina, Steven. 1982. Encounters with Unjust Authority. Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey Press.Google Scholar
Grant, Bernie. 1996. Letter to Julian Spalding, Director, Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, December 10. www.arm.arc.co.uk/CRBBletterl.html.Google Scholar
Haas, Peter M. 1992. “Introduction: Epistemic Communities and International Policy Coordination.” International Organization 46: 1–35.Google Scholar
Hamilton Spectator (Canada). 2003. “Italy Returns Plundered Obelisk.” November 10.Google Scholar
Hochschild, Adam. 1998. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. New York: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Hoge, Warren. 2004. “Annan, at Rwanda Memorial, Admits U.N. Blame.” New York Times, March 27.Google Scholar
Howard-Hassmann, Rhoda E. 2004. “Reparations to Africa and the Group of Eminent Persons.” Cahiers d'Etudes africaines 44 (1–2), 173–74: 81–97.Google Scholar
Inikori, Joseph E. 1997. “Slave Trade: Western Africa.” Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara, edited by Middleton, John. Vol. 4. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.Google Scholar
James, Matt. 2004. “Recognition, Redistribution and Redress: The Case of the ‘Chinese Head Tax.’” Canadian Journal of Political Science 37 (4): 883–902.Google Scholar
Keck, Margaret E., and Sikkink, Kathryn. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Klandermans, Bert. 1984. “Mobilization and Participation: Social-Psychological Expansions of Resource Mobilization Theory.” American Sociological Review 49: 583–600.Google Scholar
Laremont, Ricardo Rene. 2001. “Jewish and Japanese American Reparations: Political Lessons for the Africana Community.” Journal of Asian American Studies 4: 235–50.Google Scholar
Lombardo, Anthony P., and Howard-Hassmann, Rhoda E.. 2005. “Africans on Reparations: An Analysis of Elite and Activist Opinion.” Canadian Journal of African Studies 39 (3): 517–48.Google Scholar
Lovejoy, Paul. 1983. Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mazrui, Ali A., and Mazrui, Alamin M.. 2002. Black Reparations in the Era of Globalization. Binghamton, N. Y: Institute of Global Cultural Studies.Google Scholar
McCarthy, John D. 1987. “Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Mobilization: Infrastructure Deficits and New Technologies.” In Social Movements in an Organizational Society: Collected Essays, edited by Zald, Meyer N. and McCarthy, John D., 49–66. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books.Google Scholar
Meyer, David S., and Whittier, Nancy. 1994. “Social Movement Spillover.” Social Problems 41 (2): 277–98.Google Scholar
Newitt, Malyn. 1981. Portugal in Africa: The Last Hundred Years. London: C. Hurst.Google Scholar
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2005. “Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparations for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law.” Human Rights Resolution 2005/35.Google Scholar
Orend, Brian. 2002. Human Rights: Concept and Context. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press.Google Scholar
Osabu-Kle, Daniel Tetteh. 2000. “The African Reparation Cry: Rationale, Estimate, Prospects and Strategies.” Journal of Black Studies 30: 331–50.Google Scholar
Pross, Christian. 1998. Paying for the Past: The Struggle over Reparations for Surviving Victims of Nazi Terror. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Robertson, Geoffrey. 1999. Crimes against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice. New York: The New Press.Google Scholar
Schabas, William A. 2000. Genocide in International Law. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Snow, David A., and Benford, Robert D.. 1988. “Ideology, Frame Resonance, and Participant Mobilization.” International Social Movement Research 1: 197–217.Google Scholar
Snow, David A., and Benford, Robert D. 1992. “Master Frames and Cycles of Protest.” In Frontiers in Social Movement Theory, edited by Morris, Aldon D. and Mueller, Carol McClurg, 133–55. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Snow, David A., et al. 1986. “Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation.” American Sociological Review 51: 464–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torpey, John. 2001. “‘Making Whole What Has Been Smashed’: Reflections on Reparations.” Journal of Modern History 73: 333–58.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of African Affairs. 2003. “Background Note: Rwanda” October. www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861pf.htm.Google Scholar
United Nations. 1948. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. 78 U.N.T.S. 277.Google Scholar
United Nations. 2001. “Acknowledgement of Past, Compensation Urged by Many Leaders in Continuing Debate at Racism Conference,” Rd/D/24, September 2. www.un.org/WCAR/pressreleases/rd-d24.html.Google Scholar
United Nations, Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. 2001. “Recognition of responsibility and reparation for massive and flagrant violations of human rights which constitute crimes against humanity and which took place during the period of slavery, of colonialism and wars of con-quest,” August 6. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/L/11.Google Scholar
World Conference against Racism. 2001. “WCAR NGO Forum Declaration.” September 3. www.racism.org.za/declaration.htm.Google Scholar
Zajtman, Arnaud. 2002. “Lumumba Apology: Congo's Mixed Feelings.” BBC News, February 6. news.bbc.co.uk/l/hi/world/africa/1805546.stm.Google Scholar