ABSTRACT
This chapter considers public gestures of apology and reconciliation at the level of the nation-state – in particular, the process of saying 'sorry' to Indigenous peoples in Australia and New Zealand – each of which may be understood more generally as attempts to respond to the aftermath and ongoing consequences of British colonization. It presents a brief examination of the colonial histories of both countries, followed by a more detailed critique of each of the reconciliation and apology processes in question, particularly as they have developed over the last decade or so in Australia and the past thirty years in New Zealand. Most significantly, there are strong expectations on the part of the victims that the validation of claimant grievances will guarantee social justice and promise equality; in effect, that the principles of liberal democracy and free market philosophy – powerful discourses of progress – will necessarily right past wrongs.
