In the wake of political evil on a large scale, what does justice consist of? Daniel Philpott takes up this question in Just and Unjust Peace. While scholars have written about many aspects of dealing with past injustice, no general ethic has emerged. Philpott seeks to provide a holistic model that delivers concrete ethical guidelines for societies striving to build peace.

Introduction ; Part One: Reconciliation as a Concept of Justice ; Chapter One: Whose Justice? ; Chapter Two: The Basic Standards of Justice ; Chapter Three: The Wounds of Political Injustice ; Chapter Four: Reconciliation as a Concept of Justice ; Chapter Five: Is Reconciliation Fit for Politics? ; Part Two: Religion and Reconciliation ; Chapter Six: Is Religion Fit For Reconciliation? ; Chapter Seven: Reconciliation in the Jewish Tradition ; Chapter Eight: Reconciliation in the Christian Tradition ; Chapter Nine: Reconciliation in the Islamic Tradition ; Part Three: Practicing Political Reconciliation ; Chapter Ten: Four Practices: Building Institutions for Social Justice, Acknowledgment, Reparations, and Apology ; Chapter Eleven: Punishment ; Chapter Twelve: Forgiveness ; Conclusion

"Just and Unjust Peace is an important guide for responsible action in the wake of massive violations of justice." --Miroslav Volf, Books & Culture "Just and Unjust Peace is a book of optimism, of hope, of insistently seeing the glass as half full. Humane but not fatuous or sappy, it is the exit ramp off Apocalypse Highway. One wants Philpott to be right, and wishes him the best in his peacemaking efforts. We should feel grateful that there are people like him willing to take on such hard, frustrating, unglamorous work." - The New Republic "How can a society construct a better political future from the welter of claims and emotions that attend any effort to deal with past injustices? Everyone concerned with the dilemmas of peace-building will find a treasure trove of ideas and encouragement in Daniel Philpott's Just and Unjust Peace."----Mary Ann Glendon, author of The Forum and the Tower: How Scholars and Politicians Have Imagined the World from Plato to Eleanor Roosevelt "Daniel Philpott's book, Just and Unjust Peace, can be regarded as a milestone for policymakers and academics looking for ways that go beyond the liberal peace frameworks." -- Nukhet Sandal, The Immanent Frame "A passionate and compelling defense of political reconciliation written in the spirit of some of the great peacemakers of our time." --Alex Bellamy, The Immanent Frame "Daniel Philpott is quite simply the best at what he does, namely, bringing normative commitments and empirical sophistication to bear at the most vital issues of our day where religion and public life, both domestic and international, are concerned. Everything he writes deserves careful attention and he is at his best in Just and Unjust Peace." -- Jean Bethke Elshtain, author of Sovereignty: God, State, and Self "Philpott (God's Century) puts forth a compelling argument for a religious ethic of reconciliation to solve such political conflicts as war, genocide, and other forms of national ethnic or racial crimes."--Publishers Weekly "provocative and innovative....Philpott makes a compelling case for placing reconciliation at the core of our thinking about justice and for theorizing justice in a more comprehensive manner." --Ethics "How do we need to rethink the requirements of justice in contexts of political reconciliation? And what resources do the great theistic religions provide for the kind of rethinking that issues in effective political practice? Both for those urgently confronted by these questions and for the rest of us trying to understand their predicaments, Daniel Philpott's impressive book will be indispensable."--Alasdair MacIntyre, author of After Virtue "The book is cogently argued and moves between many conversations with ease."--Journal of Religion "Dan Philpott's Just and Unjust Peace is easily the most thorough and vigorous defense presently available of the view that peacemaking, after a period of massive political injustice, should aim not just at punishing offenders but at that far more comprehensive state of affairs that Philpott calls 'political reconciliation.' Philpott skillfully interweaves his articulation of this ethic for dealing with past injustice with careful attention to the objections that might be lodged against it. What makes his discussion especially compelling, however, is that it does not remain at the theoretical level but is enriched by wide-ranging references to how states and other political entities, over the past fifty years, have in fact tried to deal with past injustices and to move forward to a just and peaceful society."--Nicholas Wolterstorff, author of Justice: Rights and Wrongs "As a whole, the book is cogently argued and moves between many conversations with ease. Philpott is most successful in his quest for substantive legitimacy; his arguments in favor of reconciliation are compelling. In engaging with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, he has also shown that reconciliation can have some breadth of appeal."--Journal of Religion

Selling point: Challenges and offers a distinct alternative to the dominant approach to peacebuilding in the world today. Selling point: Turns to religious traditions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in particular--to find the tools of peacebuilding.

Daniel Philpott is Associate Professor of Political Science and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he is affiliated with the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. His books include Revolutions in Sovereignty, God's Century, The Politics of Past Evil, and Strategies of Peace.

Selling point: Challenges and offers a distinct alternative to the dominant approach to peacebuilding in the world today. Selling point: Turns to religious traditions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in particular--to find the tools of peacebuilding.