The Impossible Machine

Adam Sitze meticulously traces the origins of South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission to two well-established instruments of colonial and imperial governance: the jurisprudence of indemnity and the commission of inquiry. The TRCs genius, he contends, is its innovative adaptation of colonial law, sovereignty, and government. However, if the TRCs origins are forgotten, the very enterprise intended to overturn the jurisprudence of colonial rule may perpetuate it. Sitze proposes a provocative new means by which South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission should be understood and evaluated.