Peacebuilding, Structural Violence and Spatial Reparations in Post-Colonial South Africa

Peacebuilding approaches have placed emphasis on the restoration of political relationships and symbolic notions of community reconciliation, paying limited attention to the material causes of violence. In South Africa, the historical structural economic violence has been maintained, and after the formal end of apartheid, a lack of equitable distribution of resources is ongoing. This article conceptually and empirically argues that distributive justice measures are a way of compensating those affected by structural economic violence and addressing structural inequalities. Spatial reparations, we argue, could support readjustment of the socioeconomic causes and consequences of violence in conjunction with promoting social justice.