chapter 28
...................................................................................................................................................HISTORICAL
INJUSTICE
...................................................................................................................................................duncan ivison
1 Introduction
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Historical injustice is ubiquitous in human history. The origins of just about
every institution relevant to human political life have a pedigree stained by
injustices of various magnitudes. Slavery, genocide, mass expropriation of
property, mass internment, indiscriminate killings of civilians, and massive
political repression are all depressingly familiar features of human history, in
both the distant and the more recent past. Should any of them be redressed?
Can historical injustice be redressed? Should states be held accountable for
their bloody origins, such as the brutal colonization of the indigenous peoples
of the Americas and Australasia? Should former imperial powers have to
redress the descendants of those whom they colonized? Should the descend-
ants of slaves and holocaust survivors be compensated for the harm done to
their people? Dealing with historical injustice has also become a major task
for countries struggling to found new institutions and forms of collective life
after years of oppression or civil conXict—for example, in Central and