Reparative Love

Abstract

In this article, I use examples from my work with asylum seekers and refugees within the British city of Lancaster, and with groups working on its Black history to reflect on the role of ‘reparative’ love, and how this can be used to promote inclusion and secure social justice in practice. I draw on the work of Catherine Hall in relation to ‘reparative history,’ and the idea of ‘satyagraha’ in the work of M. K. Gandhi to formulate the concept of reparative love. I describe it as a way of repairing injustices and inequalities in the present which are linked to historical understandings of the past. It involves engaging with individuals and groups in a spirit of love characterised by submission without subordination, with a view to transforming both the present and the future in ways that can help all involved to have a richer and truer understanding of the past. In doing so, I highlight how individuals and groups that are involved can be both transformed themselves as well as becoming agents that effect such change within the community.