Examining the complex nature of state apologies for past injustices, this probes the various functions they fulfil within contemporary democracies. Cutting-edge theoretical and empirical research and insightful philosophical analyses are supplemented by real-life case studies, providing a normative and balanced account of states saying 'sorry'.

Danielle Celermajer, University of Sydney, Australia
Michael Cunningham, University of Wolverhampton, UK
Stefan Engert, J. W. Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Juan Espindola, National University of Mexico
Neil Funk-Unrau, Menno Simons College, Canada
Cindy Holder, University of Victoria, Canada
Michel-André Horelt, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Germany
Alice MacLachlan, York University, Canada
Melissa Nobles, Massachusetts Insitute of Technology, USA
Nina Schneider, University of Konstanz, Germany
Nick Smith, University of New Hampshire, USA

1. Introduction; Mihaela Mihai and Mathias Thaler PART I: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS 2. Beyond the Ideal Political Apology; Alice MacLachlan 3. Political Apologies and Categorical Apologies; Nick Smith PART II: RITES AND RITUALS OF REGRET 4. From Mea Culpa to Nostra Culpa: A Reparative Apology from the Catholic Church?; Danielle Celemajer 5. The Power of Ritual Ceremonies in State Apologies: An Empirical Analysis of the Bilateral Polish-Russian Commemoration Ceremony in Katyn in 2010; Michel-Andre Horelt 6. Confessing the Holocaust: The Evolution of German Guilt; Stefan Engert PART III CHALLENGING CASES 7. Revisiting the 'Membership Theory of Apologies': Apology Politics in Australia and Canada; Melissa Nobles 8. The Canadian Apology to Indigenous Residential School Survivors: A Case Study of Re-Negotiation of Social Relations; Neil Funk-Unrau 9. What Makes a State Apology Authoritative? Lessons from Post-Authoritarian Brazil; Nina Schneider PART IV: OBSTACLES AND LIMITATIONS 10. The Apology in Democracies: Reflections on the Challenges of Competing Goods, Citizenship, Nationalism and Pluralist Politics; Michael Cunningham 11. An Apology for Public Apologies; Juan Espindola 12. Reasoning Like a State: Integration and the Limits of Official Regret; Cindy Holder