Reconciliation-oriented Leadership: Nelson Mandela and South Africa

Abstract

Heroic leaders advocating for reconciliation has become particularly significant in the process of conflict resolution. This article analyses the case of South Africa’s national reconciliation experiences and Mandela’s iconic role in this process. It is claimed that Mandela’s reconciliation-oriented leadership, his personality, and endeavours have directly affected the promotion of intergroup reconciliation in South Africa in a positive way. The article’s analytic framework is built on Galtung’s Conflict Triangle and applied to reconciliation initiatives employed by Nelson Mandela in South Africa. The research question that this study focused on can be expressed as follows: What is the role of leaders in the process of national reconciliation? From this perspective, Mandela’s extraordinary efforts to strengthen national reconciliation in South Africa are examined by looking into his normative statements, symbolic acts, and judicial actions. The method proposed in this article contributes to the study of reconciliation at the national level, dealing with the normative statements and behaviours of those in power. In the final analysis, it was determined that there is a close relationship between the prospective success of the reconciliation process and a leader’s contribution to bringing about reconciliation in a society.

References

1. “The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela.” By Stengel, Richard. PBS (August 2008). Accessed February 22, 2016. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/.
2. African National Congress. “Nelson Mandela’s Address to a rally in Cape Town on his Release from prison.” February 11, 1990. Accessed March 21, 2016. http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?id=4520.
3. Bairstow, Timothy M., and Marine Corps. “Amnesty, Reintegration and Reconciliation.” Military Review (March-April 2009): 89-95.
4. Beck, Roger B. The History of South Africa: The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000.
5. Bloomfield, David. “On Good Term: Clarifying Reconciliation.” Berghof Report No:14,Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, 2006.
6. ———, etal. Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: A Handbook. Stockholm: IDEA Publications, 2003.
7. Brounéus, Karen. “Analyzing Reconciliation: A Structured Method for Measuring National Reconciliation Initiative.” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology 14, no. 3 (2008): 291-313.
8. Butler, Anthony. Contemporary South Africa. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Pub, 2009.

9. Dwyer, Susan. “Reconciliation for Realists.” In Dilemmas of Reconciliation: Cases and Concepts, edited by C.A.L. Prager and T. Govier, 307–26. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2003.
10. Evans, Martha. “Mandela and the Televised Birth of the Rainbow Nation.” National Identities 12, no. 3 (2010): 309-26.
11. Galtung, Johan. After Violence: 3R, Reconstruction, Reconciliation, Resolution, Coping With Visible and Invisible Effects of War and Violence. NY:Transcend, 1998.
12. ———. “Cultural Violence.” Journal of Peace Research 27, no. 3 (1990): 291-305.
13. ———. Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilizations. London:Sage Pub., 1996
14. ———. Transcend and Transform: An Introduction to Conflict Work. London: Pluto Press, 2004.
15. ———. “Violence, Peace and Peace Research.” Journal of Peace Research VI, no. 3 (1969):167-91.
16. Govier, Trudy, and Wilhelm Verwoerd. “Trust and the Problem of National Reconciliation.” Philosophy of the Social Sciences. London: Sage Pub., 2002.
17. Goodman, Tanya. Staging Solidarity: Truth and Reconciliation in a New South Africa, London: Paradigm Pub, 2009.
18. Hardimon, Michael O. Hegel’s Social Philosophy: The Project of Reconciliation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
19. Hauss, Charles. International Conflict Resolution. London: Continuum Press, 2010.
20. Hayner, Priscilla B. “Past Truth, Present Dangers: The Role of Official Truth Seeking in Conflict Resolution and Prevention.” In International Conflict Resolution After the Cold War, edited by Paul C. Stern and Daniel Druckman. Washington: National Academy Press, 2000.
21. Hofmann, Nicole A. “Reconciliation in the Transformation of Conflict.” CCS Working Papers No:11, 2010.
22. Howard, Michael. Problem of a Disarmed World. In Studies in War and Peace, 224-34. New York: Viking Press, 1971.
23. Höglund, Kristine, and Ralph Sundberg. “Reconciliation through Sports? The case of South Africa.” Third World Quarterly 29, no. 4 (2008):805-18.
24. Karis, Thomas G. “A small miracle’ continues: South Africa, 1994–99.” The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs (2008):163-78.
25. Lederach, J. Paul. “Conflict Transformation in Protracted Internal Conflict: The case for a Comprehensive Framework.” In Conflict Resolution, Vol. V, edited by Daniel Druckman
26. and Paul F. Diehl. London: Sage Pub., 2006.
27. Lederach, J. Paul. Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies. Washington DC: US Institute of Peace Press, 1997.
28. Legal Information Institute . “Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report.” Accessed March 20, 2016. http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/south_african_truth_commission.
29. Lerche, Charles O. “Truth Commissions and National Reconciliation: Some Reflection on Theory and Practice.”Peace and Conflict Studies 7, no. 1(2000): 1-20.
30. Llewellyn, Jennifer, and Daniel Philpott, ed. Restorative Justice, Reconciliation and Peacebuilding. Oxford: Oxford Uni. Press, 2014.
31. Lieberfeld, Daniel. “Lincolns, Mandela, and Qualities of Reconciliation-oriented Leadership.”
32. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology 15, no. 1 (2009): 27-47.
33. Lodge, Tom. Mandela: A Critical Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
34. Mackinnon, Aran S. The Making of South Africa: Culture and Politics. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall: Pearson Pub., 2004.
35. Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. NY: Little-Brown Pub., 1994.
36. Meierhenrich, Jens. “Varieties of Reconciliation.” Law & Social Inquiry 33, no. 1 (2008):195-231.
37. Meredith, Martin. Nelson Mandela: A Biography. New York: Martin’s Press, 1998.
38. Millar, Hayli. “Women and Transitional Justice: A Preliminary Assessment of Women’s Experiences with Truth Commissions.” In Listening to the Silences: Women and War, edited by Helen Durham and Tracey Gurd, 89-93. New York: Kluwer Law International, 2004.
39. Murphy, Colleen. A Moral Theory of Political Reconciliation. NY:Cambridge Uni. Press, 2010.
40. O’Fallon, Shawn. “Nelson Mandela and Unitive Leadership.” Integral Leadership Review12, no. 4 (2012).
41. Ramsbotham, Oliver, Tom Woodhose, and HuggMiall. Contemporary Conflict Resolution. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011.
42. Rosoux, Valerie. “Reconciliation as a Peace-Building Process: Scope and Limits.” In The SAGE Handbook of Conflict Resolution, edited by J. Bercovitch, V. Kremenyuk, and I. W. Zartman, 543-63. London: SAGE, 2009.
43. Sampson, Steven. “From Reconciliation to Coexistence.” Public Culture 15, no. 1 (2003): 79-184.
44. Short, Damien. “Reconciliation and the Problem of Internal Colonialism.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 26, no. 3 (2005): 267-82.
45. Smith, Rupert. The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World. London: Penguin Books, 2006.
46. Suttner, Raymond. “(Mis)Understanding Nelson Mandela.” African Historical Review 39, no. 2 (2007): 107-30.
47. Tutu, Desmond M. No Future Without Forgiveness. NY: Daubleday Pub., 1999.
48. Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “TRC Final Report, Volume-6.” Accessed March 22, 2016. http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/.
49. Verdoolaege, Annelies. “Media Representations of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Their Commitment to Reconciliation.” Journal of African Cultural Studies 17, no. 2 (2005): 181-99.
50. Vorster, J. M. “Nation Building in South Africa. Has Progress Been Made?” The Ecumenical Review 57, no. 4 (2005):473-91.
51. Yadav, Arvin Kumar. “Nelson Mandela and the Process of Reconciliation in South Africa.” India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs 63, no. 4 (2007): 49-84.
52. Young, Mark. “Playing Red and Playing Blue: The 1990-94 Negotiation Miracle in South Africa.” International Negotiation 12, no. 2 (2007): 295-310.
53. Zartman, I. William. “Towards the Resolution of International Conflict.” In Peacemaking International Conflict Methods and Techniques, edited by W. Zartman and J. Lewis Rasmussen, 3-24. Washington DC: U.S Institute of Peace Press, 2007.
54. Zaaiman, Daleen. Many Cultures, One Nation: Inauguration of the President of South Africa 10 May 1994. Pretoria: South African Communication Service, 1994.
55. Zyl, Paul Van. “Dilemmas of Transitional Justice: The Case of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.” Journal of International Affairs 52, no. 2 (1999).