Co-creating Peace Episode #108 – “Truth & Reconciliation”

Conflict comes in many shapes and sizes. Peacemakers must constantly look for creative approaches to resolving and transforming conflict. These approaches and their methods must be adapted to the context and nature of the conflict as well as to the people involved and, often, the culture of those people.

Is it possible to resolve or transform conflict, and find healing and restoration when the conflict involves large groups of people, such as communities, tribes, armies, or even nations, and where travesties have been committed against people, many of them innocent civilians and children? 

Please enjoy “Truth & Reconciliation”, Episode #108 of Co-creating Peace, a series about conscious communication and conflict transformation. 

There are many good people out there in the world, using wise and powerful methods to do just that. One of those methods is called the Truth and Reconciliation Process. Eric Sirotkin, an attorney and mediator in Santa Fe, NM and my guest for Episode #99 of this podcast, joins me again to give us some insights into the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, the powerful work they have done, and how much more there is yet to do.

Conversation highlights:

•  The work of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions around the world and within the United States 

•  The role of forgiveness, accountability and making right (Amnesty Process, Human Rights Commission, and Reparations)

•  Eric’s experiences in South Africa and later in Korea with the TRC processes 

•  The importance of understanding that Truth & Reconciliation is a long-term process that must continue over time, even when government leaders change.

•  Forgiveness doesn’t mean we have to, or even should, forget.

Eric Sirotkin’s work around the world, including with Archbishop Tutu, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, and restorative justice processes has led him on a mission to reframe the law by retraining lawyers on Creative Tools to expand their skillset and humanize their profession. He teaches techniques to survive and thrive in the us vs them world of law, helping lawyers gain an understanding of the nature of human relationships. 

To learn more about Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, visit these websites:

•  Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
•  Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa
•  Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea
•  EricSirtokin.com

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Visit BridgesofPeace.com to learn more about Kathleen and her work.