Composting Guilt: An Ecological Critique of Purification of Past Wrongdoing
Abstract
A review of the fast growing body of literature on transitional justice (Hayner 2011), political reconciliation (Philpott 2006, Verdejo 2009), forgiveness (Amstutz 2005), apology (Celermajer 2009), guilt (Barkan 2000) repentance (Schimmel 2002), evil (Meister 2011), moral repair (Walker 2006), and cultural memory (Borneman 2011), shows that the concept of purification has so far received little attention.  But the language of purification operates in the background of diverse practices such as the exhumation and ceremonial reburial of the dead (Desbois 2009), the call for truth commissions to document wrongdoing, and reparation campaigns that apologize and offer restitution (Diner 2007). At their best, truth and reconciliation commissions create cathartic moments (Greek: katharos = pure) and facilitate “performative transformations†that cleanse relations between perpetrators and victims (Cole 2010, 15). My new project, still in its early stages, asks whether the concept and ritual practice of purification can be used to enhance moral repair in individuals and to serve the restoration of social order in the aftermath of atrocity and systemic human rights abuses.References
[1] Barkan, Elazar. The Guilt of Nations: Restitution and Negotiat-ing Historical Injustices. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
[2] Borneman, John. Political Crime and the Memory of Loss. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2011
[3] Cole, Catherine M. Performing South Africa's Truth Commis-sion: Stages of Transition. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indi-ana University Press, 2010.
[4] Desbois, Partick. The Holocaust by Bullets. A Priests’ Journey to Uncover the Truth behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
[5] Diner, Dan, and Gotthart Wunberg. Restitution and Memory: Historical Restoration in Europe. Berghahn Books, 2007.
[6] Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966
[7] Hayner, Priscilla B. Unspeakable Truths: Transitional Justice and the Challenge of Truth Commissions. Routledge, 2010.
[8] Lugones, Maria. "Purity, Impurity, and Separation." Signs 19, no. 2 (1994): 458-79.
[9] Meister, Robert. After Evil: A Politics of Human Rights. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.
10] Philpott, Daniel. Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
[11] Internationale Theologische Kommissions: Erinnern und Versöhnen: Die Kirche und die Verfehlungen der Vergangenheit
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000307_memory-reconc-itc_ge.html" \l "VORWORT_DES_HERAUSGEBERS_â€
[12] Rappaport, Roy A. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Hu-manity. New York Cambridge University Press, 1999.
[13] Seligman, Adam B., Robert P. Weller, Michael J. Puett, and Ben-net Simon. Ritual and Its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
[14] Semelin, Jacques. Purify and Destroy: The Political Uses of Mas-sacre and Genocide. Columbia University Press, 2009.
[15] Sznaider, Natan, "Pecunifying Respectability? On the Impossili-ty of Honorable Restitution." In Restitution and Memory: Ma-terial Restoration in Europe, edited by Dan Diner and Gotthart Wunberg, 51-63. New York: Berghahn Books, 2007.
[16] Verdeja, Ernesto. Unchopping a Tree: Reconciliation in the Aftermath of Political Violence. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.
[17] Walker, Margaret Urban. Moral Repair: Reconstructing Moral Relations after Wrongdoing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
[18] Zhong, Chen-Bo, Liljenquist, Katie. "Washing Away Your Sins: Threatened Morality and Physical Cleansing." Science 313, no. 5792 (September 8, 2006): 1451-52.
[2] Borneman, John. Political Crime and the Memory of Loss. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2011
[3] Cole, Catherine M. Performing South Africa's Truth Commis-sion: Stages of Transition. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indi-ana University Press, 2010.
[4] Desbois, Partick. The Holocaust by Bullets. A Priests’ Journey to Uncover the Truth behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
[5] Diner, Dan, and Gotthart Wunberg. Restitution and Memory: Historical Restoration in Europe. Berghahn Books, 2007.
[6] Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966
[7] Hayner, Priscilla B. Unspeakable Truths: Transitional Justice and the Challenge of Truth Commissions. Routledge, 2010.
[8] Lugones, Maria. "Purity, Impurity, and Separation." Signs 19, no. 2 (1994): 458-79.
[9] Meister, Robert. After Evil: A Politics of Human Rights. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.
10] Philpott, Daniel. Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
[11] Internationale Theologische Kommissions: Erinnern und Versöhnen: Die Kirche und die Verfehlungen der Vergangenheit
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000307_memory-reconc-itc_ge.html" \l "VORWORT_DES_HERAUSGEBERS_â€
[12] Rappaport, Roy A. Ritual and Religion in the Making of Hu-manity. New York Cambridge University Press, 1999.
[13] Seligman, Adam B., Robert P. Weller, Michael J. Puett, and Ben-net Simon. Ritual and Its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
[14] Semelin, Jacques. Purify and Destroy: The Political Uses of Mas-sacre and Genocide. Columbia University Press, 2009.
[15] Sznaider, Natan, "Pecunifying Respectability? On the Impossili-ty of Honorable Restitution." In Restitution and Memory: Ma-terial Restoration in Europe, edited by Dan Diner and Gotthart Wunberg, 51-63. New York: Berghahn Books, 2007.
[16] Verdeja, Ernesto. Unchopping a Tree: Reconciliation in the Aftermath of Political Violence. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009.
[17] Walker, Margaret Urban. Moral Repair: Reconstructing Moral Relations after Wrongdoing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
[18] Zhong, Chen-Bo, Liljenquist, Katie. "Washing Away Your Sins: Threatened Morality and Physical Cleansing." Science 313, no. 5792 (September 8, 2006): 1451-52.
How to Cite
VON KELLENBACH, Katharina.
Composting Guilt: An Ecological Critique of Purification of Past Wrongdoing.
Култура/Culture, [S.l.], n. 5, p. 41-48, mar. 2014.
ISSN 1857-7725.
Available at: <http://journals.cultcenter.net/index.php/culture/article/view/61>. Date accessed: 11 feb. 2026.
Section
English Articles
Keywords
Ecology, memory, decontaminating toxic histories, composting guilt, wrongdoing
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