Conclusion

Abstract

Abstract The conclusion draws upon Albert Camus’ brilliant novel The Fall to make some summary observations about the return of memory and the perversity to which acts of repentance are subject. It assesses the claim, set out in the introduction, that the paradigm of restorative justice generally, and acts of sovereign repentance specifically, can be construed as an expression of an affirmative biopolitics in which care is extended to formerly denigrated life. Without seeking to diminish the significance of the efforts penitent states have made to correct their constitutional flaws, the chapter suggests the victims of past injustices may not be the principal beneficiary of public spectacles like political apology where the sovereign exposes itself in its crimes.