scholarly journals Finding a Voice: Silence and its Significance for Transitional Justice

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Natalya Clark
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Survival Strategy ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Dialectical Relationship ◽  
Being And Becoming

On the surface at least, silence appears to have no obvious or legitimate place within transitional justice. The latter is about voice and about truth-telling, about creating a factual record of what happened. The core aim of the article, however, is to demonstrate that silence is highly relevant to transitional justice. To develop this argument, it explores two possible and interrelated functions of silence – as a form of resistance and as a survival strategy. Conceptualizing silence as a form of absence, and emphasizing a dialectical relationship between silence as being and becoming, the article underlines the transformative possibilities of silence and their significance for transitional justice. In particular, silence can aid in the development of more agentic and contextually sensitive ways of dealing with the past. A major challenge for transitional justice, thus, is to find ways of allowing silence to ‘speak’.

scholarly journals ‘Does the truth pass across the fire without burning?’ Locating the short circuit in Rwanda's Gacaca courts

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bert Ingelaere
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Core Values ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Different Levels

ABSTRACTThe modernised tradition of the Gacaca courts has become the key mechanism for dealing with the past in Rwanda. The process needs to establish accountability for all acts of genocide and to foster reconciliation. Nevertheless, popular narratives and survey results reveal that a widespread ‘crisis’ accompanied the initial stages of the Gacaca process. We argue that a problematic quest for the truth is short-circuiting reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda. Truth-telling is the cornerstone of the transitional justice framework due to the design of the Gacaca tribunals. On the basis of twenty months of fieldwork in Rwandan villages, we locate tensions at different levels. The Gacaca system is a distinctively modern phenomenon despite its traditional appearance. The state-sanctioned speaking of the truth according to a prosecutorial logic runs counter to the core values of the customary institution and established societal practices. This friction is further enhanced by the underlying Judeo-Christian model of truth-telling introduced with the Gacaca system in a socio-political environment mediated by a culture of deceit and dominated by a war victor. In such a socio-cultural context, communication serves the interests of the power holders (national and local), and not necessarily the interest of truth-telling and justice.

scholarly journals Transitional Justice in the Middle East and North Africa – Taking Account of Islam

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hakeem O. Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Islamic Values

AbstractThe core of the argument of this article is that the integration of Islamic notions of justice into transitional justice mechanisms in the MENA makes for a more viable and sustainable transitional justice process in the region. This would mean a critical cultural value in the MENA is given a place in dealing with the past and mapping out a sustainable future in the region. The argument here is premised on the logic that a social transformation-focused enterprise like transitional justice ought to engage with Islam for sustainable outcomes in societies in the MENA where Islam is very influential. Given the significant role and influence of Islam on cultural, socio-political and legal institutions in the MENA, a process of transitional justice that takes account of Islamic values and practices is important for negotiating justice and institutionalising reforms in societies in the region.

Memory and Politics in Democratic Spain

2020 ◽  
pp. 46-61
Author(s):  
Omar G. Encarnación
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Spanish Civil War ◽  
The Political ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Franco Regime ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Right

This chapter explains the persistence of Spain’s ‘politics of forgetting’, a phenomenon revealed by the wilful intent to disremember the political memory of the violence of the Spanish Civil War and the human rights abuses of General Franco’s authoritarian regime. Looking beyond the traumas of the Civil War, the limits on transitional justice and truth-telling on the Franco regime imposed by a transition to democracy anchored on intra-elite pacts, and the conciliatory and forward-looking political culture that consolidated in the new democracy, this analysis emphasizes a decidedly less obvious explanation: the political uses of forgetting. Special attention is paid to how the absence of a reckoning with the past, protected politicians from both the right and the left from embarrassing and inconvenient political histories; facilitated the reinvention of the major political parties as democratic institutions; and lessened societal fears about repeating past historical mistakes. The conclusion of the chapter explains how the success of the current democratic regime, shifting public opinion about the past occasioned by greater awareness about the dark policies and legacies of the Franco regime, and generational change among Spain’s political class have in recent years diminished the political uses of forgetting. This, in turn, has allowed for a more honest treatment of the past in Spain’s public policies.

scholarly journals Transitional Justice and Reconciliation in the Western Balkans: Approaches, Impacts and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huma Haider
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Meaningful Change ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Safe Spaces ◽  
The Past ◽  
Art And Culture ◽  
Alternative Sites ◽  
Modes Of Engagement

Countries in the Western Balkans have engaged in various transitional justice and reconciliation initiatives to address the legacy of the wars of the 1990s and the deep political and societal divisions that persist. There is growing consensus among scholars and practitioners that in order to foster meaningful change, transitional justice must extend beyond trials (the dominant international mechanism in the region) and be more firmly anchored in affected communities with alternative sites, safe spaces, and modes of engagement. This rapid literature review presents a sample of initiatives, spanning a range of sectors and fields – truth-telling, art and culture, memorialisation, dialogue and education – that have achieved a level of success in contributing to processes of reconciliation, most frequently at the community level. It draws primarily from recent studies, published in the past five years. Much of the literature available centres on Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), with some examples also drawn from Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia.

scholarly journals Transitional Justice in South Africa and Brazil: Introducing a Gendered Approach to Reconciliation

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-107
Author(s):  
G. Nelaeva ◽  
N. Sidorova
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Truth Commissions ◽  
General Question ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
The Past ◽  
Formal Procedure ◽  
Post War

The concept of transitional justice has been associated with the periods of political change when a country emerges from a war or turmoil and attempts to address the wrongdoings of the past. Among various instruments of transitional justice, truth commissions stand out as an example of a non-judicial form of addressing the crimes of the past. While their setup and operation can be criticized on different grounds, including excessive politization of hearings and the virtual impossibility of meaningfully assessing their impact, it has been widely acknowledged in the literature that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa can be regarded as a success story due to its relatively strong mandate and widespread coverage and resonance it had in South African society. We would like to compare this commission from the 1990s with a more recent example, the Brazilian National Truth Commission, so as to be able to address the question of incorporation of gendered aspects in transitional justice (including examination of sexual violence cases, representation of women in truth-telling bodies, etc.), since gender often remains an overlooked and silenced aspect in such initiatives. Gendered narratives of transitional justice often do not fit into the wider narratives of post-war reconciliation. A more general question addressed in this research is whether the lack of formal procedure in truth commissions facilitates or hinders examination of sexual crimes in transitional settings.

Collaboration, Complicity, and Historical Memory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia M. Horne
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Secret Police ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
The Past ◽  
Shed Light

The widespread complicity evident in the post-communist cases complicates approaches to transitional justice because it lays some of the blame on society. Lustration procedures use information in secret police files to shed light on the past. Those files contain information documenting how neighbors, friends, co-workers, and even relatives might have informed on you. There is a potential for such revelations about the scope of the interpersonal and institutional betrayals to undermine social trust and civil society. This chapter explores the problems associated with complicity and transitional justice measures by examining the cases of Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Bulgaria. The cases highlight how historical memory is affected by negative revelations about the past. These cases illustrate how rising nostalgia can collide with truth telling, forcing the reconsideration and sometimes revision of historical memory.

In Pursuit of Policies of ‘Reconciliation’ from an Intransigent State: An Exercise in Folly?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shari Eppel
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
State Violence ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
The Past ◽  
Power Base ◽  
History Of ◽  
Causes Of Violence ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation

Zimbabwe has had only one real transition of power, at independence in 1980. Since then, Zimbabwe has had a long history of (selectively) drawing lines through the past and of extreme political intolerance. The ruling party ZANU-PF has acted ruthlessly against any political opposition—first in the 1980s, when many thousands of civilians in the west of the country were massacred during the deployment of a special brigade, targeted at the support base of ZAPU, then the dominant political party in that region. Systematic repression and torture in this region led to the first semi-transition in 1987, with the Unity Accord. The uneasy peace was broken again in 2000, with the rise of the MDC, and once more violence was unleashed to ensure ZANU-PF retained its increasingly militarized power base. A government of national unity and a coup marked further semi-transitions. These multiple eras of state violence and semi-transitions have all been accompanied by calls for initiatives to promote ‘peace’ and ‘reconciliation’ as well as justice but official truth telling has proved elusive. However, the semi-transition resulting from the coup of November 2017 may have shifted the space to talk about the past: the constitutionally mandated National Peace and Reconciliation Commission finally achieved legislative backing in 2018, and may offer opportunities for transitional justice initiatives. Importantly, the underlying structural causes of violence and repression, dating back to colonial times, need to be addressed. Truth telling alone will not ensure a more tolerant future.

scholarly journals Reimagining OTR during COVID-19 through Transformative Practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Ratcliff ◽  
Laura Galloway
Keyword(s):  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Orientation Programs ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Status

COVID-19 was a catalyst that provided orientation professionals the opportunity to reimagine their programs and challenge the status quo. AUTHOR INSTITUTION utilized Mezirow’s (1991) transformative learning framework and concepts from Davies’s (2017) work on transitional justice in education to make impactful programmatic changes. Through the process of truth telling, critical reflection, and addressing failures, this article provides an example of applying scholarly frameworks to in-person and virtual orientation programs over the course of three orientation cycles to ensure each program is more equitable and student centered than the past.

Democratizing Societies Confront Their Past

2021 ◽  
pp. 159-180
Author(s):  
Luis Roniger
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Spillover Effect ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Civil Unrest ◽  
The Past

This chapter examines various processes of democratization and confrontation within the legacies of the last wave of repressive authoritarianism in the Americas. Undergoing periods of civil unrest, repression, and human rights violations, these societies faced a tortuous process of coming to terms with that experience, enforcing policies of transitional justice without an easy way of closing the book on the past. This chapter suggests a comparative look at various policy paths and their consequences, highlighting a transnational spillover effect as countries looked upon one another and drew inferences for calibrating and advancing their own processes of overcoming the scars of authoritarian repression. The analysis identifies the constellation of national and transnational factors that eventually opened institutional ground for belated truth telling and accountability for historical wrongs.

Soziale Disziplinierung im flexiblen Kapitalismus

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (136) ◽  
pp. 339-356
Author(s):  
Tobias Wölfle ◽  
Oliver Schöller
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Second Step ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Capitalist Development ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Municipal Level

Under the term “Hilfe zur Arbeit” (aid for work) the federal law of social welfare subsumes all kinds of labour disciplining instruments. First, the paper shows the historical connection of welfare and labour disciplining mechanisms in the context of different periods within capitalist development. In a second step, against the background of historical experiences, we will analyse the trends of “Hilfe zur Arbeit” during the past two decades. It will be shown that by the rise of unemployment, the impact of labour disciplining aspects of “Hilfe zur Arbeit” has increased both on the federal and on the municipal level. For this reason the leverage of the liberal paradigm would take place even in the core of social rights.

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