Agency, Power and Representation: Transitional Justice between Identity Politics and Victims Empowerment

Abstract

After the world-wide proliferation of Transitional Justice mechanisms within the last twenty years the decision every post-conflict society has to make is not anymore about if to deal with its violent past but much more how to fulfill this task. Mechanisms of Transitional Justice are applied with a variety of purposes: while international actors within peace operations assume an impact on peace-building and rule of law reform, victims groups and international NGOs strive for the rehabilitation of affected groups and retribution towards the perpetrators of international crimes. Therefore, claims in the name of the victims and for the sake of justice, peace and reconciliation are made by a variety of actors and issues. The question remains in how far Transitional Justice processes are designed to meet the needs of those they claim to be designed for and/or of those they are designed by. The panel discusses theoretical as well as empirical and interdisciplinary papers which tackle questions of how claims for Transitional Justice are dealt with on an international and local level. Papers take into account the discursive and practical level of agency and representation in Transitional Justice processes by focusing on issues of: - the nexus between an internationally developed Transitional Justice tool-box and realities and concepts on the ground; - the role of international and local NGOs in Transitional Justice processes; - issues of agency and representation within the design and conduct of Transitional Justice mechanisms.

Title	Details
Victims participation at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC): A mere tool of legitimation?	View Paper Details
Transitional Justice Globalised? Some observations from the former Yugoslav experience	View Paper Details
The Universal Jurisdiction principle as a mechanism of coming to terms with the Past: The Southern Cone and Spain	View Paper Details
Transitional Justice in Somalia avant la lettre: Questioning Established Categories	View Paper Details
Frictions in Transitional Justice Processes: The Fight for Rehumansation of Victims of Enforced Disappearance in Mexico	View Paper Details
“Revealing what we are feeling”: A critical assessment of the national consultations in Burundi	View Paper Details
Coupling the Disparate: The Justice–Reconciliation Nexus Within the Palestinian–Israeli Conflict	View Paper Details