Includes bibliographical references and index.

Laying the groundwork -- Non-identity and redressing historical injustices -- Against redress (1) : the individualistic perspective -- Against redress (2) : thinking about collectivities, states, and nations -- Intergenerational redress and forward-looking considerations, and the remaining case for redressing past wrongs.

There is a widespread belief that contemporary citizens should take responsibility for rectifying past wrongs. Nahshon Perez challenges this view, questioning attempts to aggregate dead wrongdoers with living people, and examining ideas of intergenerational collective responsibility with great suspicion. He distinguishes sharply between those who are indeed unjustly enriched by past wrongs, and those who are not. Looking at issues such as the distinction between compensation and restitution, counterfactuals and the non-identity problem, Perez concludes that individuals have the right to a clean slate, and that almost all of the pro-intergenerational redress arguments are unconvincing.