Civil Society and Reconciliation: Voices from Post-War Japan, Germany, and Italy
François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl link hands at the cemetery beside the battlefield of Verdun at a meeting in 1984 © AP
Lasting reconciliation with former enemies after a war is a difficult and distressing process. Yet, beyond the war crimes trials, public discussion of Second World War crimes in West Germany, Italy and Japan in the post-war period was extremely sparse. Controversies over the responsibilities for key events remain today. CO.AS.IT, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, will host, as a free event, a discussion of the project Civil Society and Reconciliation introduced by its directors Claudia Astarita and Akihiro Ogawa (Asia Institute, The University of Melbourne) on Thursday 28 March 2019 , 6.30-8pm at 199 Faraday Street, Carlton, VIC , followed by the screening of the project’s documentary and remarks by Riccardo Brizzi (University of Bologna) and Laura Fontana (European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, Paris). Their descriptions of their own work can be found here. Akihiro OGAWA is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute. He completed a PhD in Anthropology in 2004 at Cornell University, followed by two years of postdoctoral work at Harvard University’s Program on US-Japan Relations and Department of Anthropology. He then taught at Stockholm University, Sweden, from 2007 to 2015. His major research interest is in contemporary Japanese society, focussing on civil society.
Claudia ASTARITA is a Fellow at the Asia Institute, the University of Melbourne, and Lecturer at Sciences Po, Paris. She obtained her Ph.D. in Asian Studies from Hong Kong University in early 2010. Her main research interests include China’s political and economic development, Chinese and Indian Foreign policies, East Asian regionalism and regional economic integration, Asian Civil Society, and the role of media and memory in reshaping historical narratives in Asia.
Riccardo BRIZZI is Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Bologna, and visiting Professor at several European Universities (Sciences Po Paris, Sciences Po Lyon, Paris Assas etc.). His main research interests include European political History (19th and 20th century) with a focus on French political history, history of political communication in the 20th and 21th century and Sports history.
Laura FONTANA is one of the leading Holocaust educators in Europe with nearly 30 years of teaching experience. Since 1994 she has been in charge of an educational programme devoted to the teaching of the Holocaust under the name of “Education and Remembrance”. She joined Mémorial de la Shoah of Paris in 2008 as the head of its newly founded Italian Department.
This event is associated with the workshop “Embedding the Apology in the Media: How Civil Society Contributes to Reconciliation,” The University of Melbourne, Wednesday 27 March 2019. For more information, click here.
