Jean Améry's Concept of Resentment at the Crossroads of Ethics and Politics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3972053 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Magdalena Zolkos (0000-0003-3728-5268, University of Alberta, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 23-38 |
| Publication date | 2007-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The European Legacy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10848770601080891 |
| OpenAlex | W1979269651 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
The questions of forgiveness and political justice have recently become intertwined with the “transitional justice” project, the aim of which is the coming to terms with past human rights violations. This article demonstrates that “transitional justice” is less concerned with providing justice than with achieving historical closure, moral redemption, and a “new beginning.” It proposes that justice requires a profound reflection of a political nature by introducing and discussing Jean Améry's concept of resentment. Central to Améry's view of resentment is the restoration of the victim's social status and dignity, the validation of the experience of victimhood; his view therefore contrasts with the Nietzschean derogative view of ressentiment. On the basis of Améry's conceptualizations and with reference to Derrida's notions of “hiatus” and “forgiveness as impossibility,” the article problematizes the relation of ethics and politics—which the “transitional justice” project takes as given. It suggests that to theorize on justice, one needs to parenthesize the moral imagery of forgiveness and bring thirdness (or plurality) to the fore as the space where the identities of “victims” and “perpetrators” are established and played out
Dignity · Economic Justice · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Forgiveness · Impossibility · Political science · Politics · Resentment · Sociology · Transitional justice · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Philosophy · Political Theology and Sovereignty
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,24 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2025 (17) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |