The Mission of the Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability

AHDA is based at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) in New York. As a convening body, it is the first interdisciplinary global network for scholars and practitioners working in historical dialogue. AHDA provides its affiliates with a forum for constructive interdisciplinary interaction and exposes them to available resources. In doing so, AHDA focuses historical dialogue into a well-defined field and raises awareness for it as an innovative mechanism for reconciliation, peacebuilding, and democracy promotion. By facilitating the exchange of knowledge between and within disciplines, AHDA assists its affiliates in shaping a society’s discussion of past violence.

About Historical Dialogue

Historical dialogue and accountability is a growing field of advocacy and scholarship that encompasses the efforts in conflict, post-conflict, and post-dictatorial societies to come to terms with their pasts. It is foremost a tool aimed at using historical memory for reconciliation, peacebuilding, and democracy promotion. Stakeholders increasingly recognize that addressing a violent past through historical dialogue can facilitate the construction of shared narratives. These narratives, in turn, can address root causes of conflicts and add to a goal of building sustainable peace.

Historical dialogue and accountability takes place throughout the world in a variety of fields, such as academia, journalism, education, film, art, and literature. Work in these fields fosters empathy for alternative perspectives and facilitates the construction of a new public culture, both of which shape stronger civic democratic participation and identity in the long term.