Neera Chandhoke - Nelson Mandela: Peace Through Reconciliation

Neera Chandhoke

First published 2022

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2022 Neera Chandhoke

The right of Neera Chandhoke to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN: 978-0-367-35308-7 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-367-35329-2 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-33071-1 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon

by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Ramin Jahanbegloo

Peace is one of the central concepts of the spiritual and political life of humanity. When we study the worlds religious and philosophical teachings, whether they are from the East or the West, we see that one of the basic ideals of all religions is peace. Peace does not imply simply absence of war. It implies harmony, justice, and empathy. Empathy is the key to education of peace in our world. In other words, despite the vast differences of values between cultures and traditions, it is still possible to grasp an understanding of one another by empathy. Therefore, we can maintain that all cultures have a shared core of common humanity. Throughout centuries, peacemakers endorsed a shared human horizon, which according to them had the critical force of avoiding moral anarchy and relativism while acknowledging the plurality of modes of being human. As a matter of fact, the first step for peacemakers has always been to assume that not only are there differences among nations, cultures, and traditions of thought but also to admit that people may have different value systems which need to be understood and approached dialogically and critically. Philosophy of peace is, thus, expressed here in the idea of a self-respecting community or nation which strives to remove its own imperfections instead of necessarily judging others. As a result, peacemaking is always a call not only to cultivate humility but also to foster pluralism. Such a view is essential if we are to avoid the danger of cultural conformity and move towards the recognition of shared values of humanity and the acceptance of what Martin Luther King, Jr. called the cosmic companionship. Put differently, we can say that it would be an error to hope that we can ever achieve a truly universal vision of peace without an intercultural approach to the idea of civilisation. Peacemakers have always been in favour of a farsighted peacemaking in our world which has seriously advocated the logic of solidarity and civic friendship beyond national selfishness and global exclusion. Let us not forget that all peacemakers, either man or woman, young or old, from the West or the East, were all engaged in the process of peace seeking by fighting for care, openness, and empathy as constructive forms of being together. Today in a different manner and in a changed tone, but with the same moral courage and dissenting voice, this series on Peacemakers offers the first comprehensive engagement with the problems of peace in our age, through a meticulous and thorough study of the lives and thoughts of peacemakers of all ages.