Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation
The IHJR seeks to dispel public myths about historic legacies
in societies divided by ethnic conflict
Loading...The IHJR has taken important strides forward in developing the field of historical justice and reconciliation. The IHJR can proudly count as a key accomplishment its own transformation from being a “project” of the Salzburg Global Seminar to an independent institute in The Hague in October 2008. It is now recognized not only in The Netherlands but internationally as a center undertaking issues of historical justice and reconciliation. Our annual report of 2009, which can be downloaded here, reflects the developments of the IHJR during its first full year of independence.
The CHDR is an outcome of the IHJR Project in the Former Yugoslavia.
The IHJR works in partnership with the Salzburg Global Seminar.
Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation
The Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) works with educational and public policy institutions to organize and sponsor historical discourse in pursuit of acknowledgement, and the resolution of historical disputes. Founded in 2004, the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) is an independent, nonprofit institution based in The Hague that works in partnership with the Salzburg Global Seminar.
FYR ‘Political Myths’ team workshop in The Hague
A Myth Factory: Political Myths in Former Yugoslavia and Successor States
The Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation hosted a workshop for its ‘Political Myths’ team from the Former Yugoslavia Republic project from 21 until 26 February 2010. The team is made up of participants from Bosnian-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia. The goal of this workshop was to finalize the shared narrative for publication and formulate recommendations for the policy makers.
The team has selected a set of competing myths that continue to threaten regional stability and reconciliation processes, including myths on ethno-nationalist ideas on patriotic martyrdom, primordial ethnic incompatibility, history of the socialist era, and the wars of the nineties. The final work will emphasize the process of myths and their dynamics in the process of nation building as a present-day phenomenon in the successor states of former Yugoslavia.
The meeting also included visits to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Peace Palace and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) where a lecture on the importance of the ICTY as a source for historians was held.
A final draft of the text in Serbian-Croatian was produced at the end of the workshop and is expected to be completed by June 2010.
Haifa workshop in Salzburg
Haifa Historical Memory Project
A workshop was convened by the IHJR at the Salzburg Global Seminar from February 14 to 19, 2010 bringing together the IHJR working group on Haifa 1948, led by Prof. Yfaat Weiss and Prof. Mahmoud Yazbak. The project is comprised of a series of joint research projects in which Israeli and Palestinian scholars are researching and writing joint narratives of history and memory of Haifa as an outcome of what some call the Nakba and others Israel’s independence.
Continuing the research initiated and developed over the past year, this workshop enabled the 7 mixed teams of Israeli and Palestinian scholars to deepen and expand their respective chapters, bringing them to an advanced stage in the process. Based on this workshop, it is anticipated that the teams will complete draft chapters by the end of June this year, leading to a final draft by the end of October 2010 and publication by 2011.
Each team presented a brief overview of their progress since the last meeting at the beginning of the week, addressing their current stage as well as any difficulties they were encountering, both individually and as a team. A more in-depth presentation was made by each team on the final day where teams shared their developments over these days in Salzburg, reflections, changes, challenges, and an assessment of their ability to complete the work by June 2010.
The Haifa Historical Memory Project is made possible through the generous support from the Ford Foundation, the Arcadia Trust and the Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Hamburg Institute for Social Research and logistical support from the Salzburg Global Seminar.
