Between 2008 and 2012, the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) collected the testimonies of individuals who had suffered, or taken part in, acts of violence during the period of conflict known as the ‘ethnic tensions’. Based upon the recently completed work of the South African TRC, the Commission had been advocated for by local faith-based organisations as a “moral body, a principled approach”, that would provide an alternative to state-led reconciliation initiatives.

In this podcast, Claire Cronin talks about her PhD project. He explains that during her fieldwork in the Solomon Islands, she was consistently told that the TRC had “failed to touch the heart of the people” and how her thesis seeks to provide an explanation as to why that was.