Post-Conflict Justice under the Gaze of Political Sociology

Abstract

This panel will contribute to analyses of post-conflict justice by taking a political sociology approach. In particular it will examine the social roots of the implementation of institutions and norms of justice in post-conflict societies, distinguishing itself from currently dominant normative and evaluative approaches. Post-conflict justice endeavours have increasingly featured in the toolboxes of “conflict resolution” and “peacebuilding” actors since the 1980-90s. The emerging framework of post-conflict justice articulates judicial institutions (e.g. ad hoc international criminal tribunals, hybrid courts and the International Criminal Court) and para-judicial ones which rely on amorphous norms of “truth” and “reconciliation” (e.g. truth and reconciliation commissions or “traditional” justice bodies). Current analyses of the circulation of this post-conflict justice rely mainly on two explanations: that it is the result of either spontaneous worldwide recognition of a good “idea whose time has come”, or of top-down impositions from international institutions onto local contexts. This panel will seek to challenge and move beyond these explanations by asking, among other questions: what are the multifarious ways in which different actors at different levels make use of these institutions and norms? In which political contexts do mobilizations for post-conflict justice develop and how do they affect power relations? How should we make sense, in a sociohistorical perspective, of the ways in which rules and ideals of justice are negotiated and co-produced in post-conflict societies? In order to foster an international dialogue on the contribution of political sociology to the study of post-conflict justice, this panel will include theoretical discussions and empirical contributions. It particularly welcomes studies that deploy innovative qualitative methodologies (e.g. ethnography of trials) and quantitative ones (network analysis, prosopography, etc.). Panel co-chairs : Briony JONES (University of Manchester - Oxford Transitional Justice Research), Cécile JOUHANNEAU (CERI - Sciences Po Paris) and Delphine LECOMBE (CERI - Sciences Po Paris).

Title	Details
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