The Paradoxes of Restitution

Restitution following mass dispossession is often considered both ideal and impossible. Why? This Article identifies two previously unnamed paradoxes that undermine the possibility of restitution: the time-unworthiness paradox and the collective responsibility paradox. After developing these ideas, the Article examines them in the context of a particularly difficult and intractable case of dispossession and restitution.

The Article draws upon interviews with restitution claimants whose stories reveal the paradoxes of restitution.