Belgian Parliamentary negotiations on the colonial past
(2025) Negotiation Journal : on the process of dispute settlement — Vol. 41, p. 472-490 (2025)
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- Abstract
- This article investigates the negotiation process initiated by the establishment of a Special Commission within the Belgian Parliament in 2020, tasked with addressing the country’s colonial past. Based on two and a half years of fieldwork conducted within the Commission, the article traces how extensive negotiations, hearings, and meetings— both national and international— led to the signature of an ambitious pre- agreement, before the process ultimately collapsed in a complete and wholly unexpected failure. The analysis underscores how Belgium’s deeply rooted societal cleavages— left/right, Francophone/ Dutch- speaking, Catholic/secular, monarchist/republican— shaped the process into a distributive and highly emotional conflict.
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Citations
Rosoux, V. (2025). Belgian Parliamentary negotiations on the colonial past. Negotiation Journal : on the process of dispute settlement, 41, 472-490. https://doi.org/10.1162/NGTN.a.34 (Original work published 2025)