Transitional Justice Theories

After the Arab Spring : a new wave of transitional justice? / Kirsten J. Fisher and Robert Stewart -- 1. The Arab world after the popular uprisings : a spirit restored? / Bassel F. Salloukh -- 2. Building a future, exhuming the past : the struggles for accountability in the wake of regional uprisings / Anne Massagee -- 3. Transitional justice in the wake of the Arab uprisings : between complexity and standardization / Habib Nassar -- 4. Difficult but ultimately rewarding : lessons from transitional justice in Latin America / Andrew G. Reiter -- 5. The costs of avoiding transitional justice : lessons from Lebanon / Ora Szekely -- 6. Risks and rewards : lessons from Central and Eastern Europe's transitional justice experiences / Klaus Bachmann, Robert Stewart and Kirsten J. Fisher -- 7. Challenges of representation and inclusion : a case study of Islamist groups in transitional justice / Line Khatib -- 8. Transitional justice and the Arab Spring from a gender perspective / Elham Manea -- 9. Egypt and the struggle for accountability and justice / Michael Wahid Hanna -- 10. Justice after the war : the International Criminal Court and post-Gaddafi Libya / Mark Kersten -- 11. Selectivity, legitimacy and the pursuit of post-Arab Spring international criminal justice / Kirsten J. Fisher -- 12. Transitions in the Middle East and North Africa : new trajectories and challenges for transitional justice? / Hugo van der Merwe.

"Transitional justice is rapidly gaining significance as an umbrella term for mechanisms and policy instruments for dealing with a violent past in the aftermath of mass atrocities or dictatorial regimes. The practice of transitional justice brings into place institutions and mechanisms addressing systematic human rights abuses in order to promote the transition to a peaceful coexistence. These include retributive measures, such as tribunals and court trials, as well as restorative or transformative initiatives in view of enhancing community relations, such as truth commissions or memory work. Yet, despite the range of activities conducted globally and the vibrant academic debate on the topic, there are but few attempts to conceptualise transitional justice theoretically. Transitional Justice Theories fills this gap. The first part of the book theorises transitional justice through the notion of transition. Using the concepts of social learning, social trust, implicit memory, and collective trauma, the chapters attempt to identify distinct features of the transitional moment and theoretically capture relevant social processes on a micro- and macro-level. The second part focuses on the notion of justice, outlining different understandings, such as restorative, transformative, and reparative; and discussing the use of these concepts in different settings and by different agents. The third part considers the academic as well as political discourses on transitional justice from the perspective of critical social theories, including feminism and postcolonialism. Contributing to the academic debate as well as to the practice of transitional justice, Transitional Justice Theories is an important contribution to this fast growing field"--

This book presents a varied and critical picture of how the Arab Spring demands a re-examination and re-conceptualization of issues of transitional justice. It demonstrates how unique features of this wave of revolutions and popular protests that have swept the Arab world since December 2010 give rise to distinctive concerns and problems relative to transitional justice. The contributors explore how these issues in turn add fresh perspective and nuance to the field more generally. In so doing, it explores fundamental questions of social justice, reconstruction and healing in the context of the

"This book presents a varied and critical picture of how the Arab Spring demands a re-examination and re-conceptualization of issues of transitional justice. It demonstrates how unique features of this wave of revolutions and popular protests that have swept the Arab world since December 2010 give rise to distinctive concerns and problems relative to transitional justice, and explores how these issues in turn add fresh perspective and nuance to the field more generally. In so doing, it explores fundamental questions of social justice, reconstruction and healing in the context of the Arab Spring. Including the perspectives of academics and practitioners, Transitional Justice and the Arab Spring will be of considerable interest to those working on the politics of the Middle East, normative political theory, transitional justice, international law, international relations and human rights"--

"Transitional justice has gained global significance as an umbrella term for approaches to dealing with the past in the aftermath of violent conflict or dictatorial regimes; a range of mechanisms and institutions, including tribunals, truth commissions and memorial projects seek to redress past wrongs, vindicate the dignity of victims, and provide justice. Despite this global activity and the lively academic debate surrounding it, there have been few attempts to conceptualize transitional justice theoretically. Transitional Justice Theories therefore seeks to deliver a hitherto absent theoretical framework by exploring both normative and critical perspectives from disciplines such as political science, sociology, philosophy, or psychology. Working through such concepts as the social processes of the transitional moment and the differing perspectives on justice (as potentially restorative, transformative, and reparative), this volume highlights the field's interdisciplinary scope while revealing the commonalities, as well as tensions, between the various perspectives. Contributing to the academic debate as well as to the practice of transitional justice, this book is an important contribution to a dynamic field. As such, it will be of immense interest to scholars, students, and practitioners of transitional justice, and more widely of Law, Politics, and Sociology"--

This book examines and offers suggestions for how post-conflict practices should conceptualize and address harms committed by child soldiers for successful social reconstruction in the aftermath of mass atrocity. It defends the use of accountability and considers the agency of youth participants in violent conflict as responsible moral entities.

Transitional Justice Theories is the first volume to approach the politically sensitive subject of post-conflict or post-authoritarian justice from a theoretical perspective. It combines contributions from distinguished scholars and practitioners as well as from emerging academics from different disciplines and provides an overview of conceptual approaches to the field. The volume seeks to refine our understanding of transitional justice by exploring often unarticulated assumptions that guide discourse and practice. To this end, it offers a wide selection of approaches from various theoretical