K. Clements (Hrsg.): Identity, Trust, and Reconciliation in East Asia.

Rezensiert für den Arbeitskreis Historische Friedensforschung bei H-Soz-u-Kult von: Norbert Ropers.

This book provides fascinating insights into one of the key paradoxes of Asia, the relationships between the three key countries in Northeast Asia: China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK respectively South Korea). While the outside world is tempted to primarily see the close socio-cultural and religious proximity of these countries and is impressed by the dynamic socio-economic development over the last four decades, the people in the region emphasize much more their different identities, their mistrust and the painful history of colonization, wars, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The editor of the book and the initiator of three workshops held between 2013 and 2015, which were closely linked to the book project, is Keven P. Clements, Foundation Professor and Director of the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He belongs to a leading group of “scholar-practitioners” in the field who have worked hard to put their knowledge to practical use. In this case he uses the concept of “problem-solving workshops”, a social-psychological method developed in the 1970s to analyze the background of protracted conflicts and to explore ways of how to transform them in a peaceful manner.

This aspect is important to mention because the majority of the authors of the twelve articles are interested not only in providing an academic analysis of their respective topics, but also in generating recommendations on how to respond to the challenges of the violent past and the difficult and complex relationships between the three key countries. Weiterlesen

Empfohlene Zitierweise
Norbert Ropers: Rezension zu: Clements, Kevin P. (Hrsg.): Identity, Trust, and Reconciliation in East Asia. Dealing with Painful History to Create a Peaceful Present. Cham  2017 , in: H-Soz-Kult, 31.01.2019, <www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/rezbuecher-28062>.