Invisibility and the Politics of Reconciliation in Australia: Keeping Conflict in View

Abstract

Is reconciliation a process of masking conflict in order for it to be eradicated from the view, consciousness and responsibility of the state? Why do we focus on solutions rather than managing and embracing the issues that generate ‘conflict’? This article draws on the politics of reconciliation debates in Australia to highlight the dangers that emanate from political efforts to bring about reconciliation merely as a mode of conflict resolution. We contend that an uncritical advocacy of reconciliation risks losing sight of the centrality of conflict to the maintenance of identity and contestation around racial and cultural inequalities. We ground this in a discussion of the experiences of so..