Reparations and the Human

This presentation explores the relationship between political and psychic genealogies of reparation. Reparation is a key term in political theory, but it is also a central concept in psychoanalysis (specifically object relations theory), yet the two are rarely discussed in relation to one another. In this talk, I will explore how political and psychic genealogies of reparation might supplement one another in theories of the human and discourses of human rights, while helping us to understand better the social and psychic limits of repairing war, violence, colonialism, and genocide. Specifically, I will trace a global genealogy of reparations from John Locke to Melanie Klein to twentieth-century Asia in order to rethink the concept’s transnational significance and the possibility of “racial reparation” in context of the trans-Pacific: the internment of Japanese Americans by the U.S. government during World War II; the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ending that war; and contemporary legal claims by “comfort women,” young girls and women from Japan’s colonial empire conscripted by the imperial army into sexual slavery.

Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality


41-51 East 11th Street, 7th Floor Gallery


between University Place and Broadway

This event is free and open to the public.  If you need wheelchair access, please let us know 24 hours in advance: 212-992-9540.

For more information about this event, please call CSGS at 212-992-9540.

Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, the NYU Asian/Pacific/American Institute, and the Department of East Asian Studies.