Lost in Translation: The Interdisciplinarity of Transitional Justice through the Lens of Child Participation

Transitional justice as a concept exists because institutions and scholars have constructed it as an object, an idea, that can be ‘known’ about. Yet transitional justice is characteristically fluid and hard to define. As it stands, the way that transitional justice is defined and evaluated is very much dependent on its relationship as a ‘field’ with other ‘fields.’ The interdisciplinarity of transitional justice creates different relationships between research, policy and practice; relationships which, in themselves, are representative of the separation of what the author will explore as the ‘concept-praxis-conception dissonance’ of transitional justice. Moreover, as a result of this separation, these relationships are not without some considerable tension. The paper will be structured around these inherent tensions, particularly in international human rights law and international development, through the lens of my thesis focus on the participation of children within transitional justice. Both disciplines view ‘transitional justice’ through their own distinctive lenses, but there is much space for finding common ground. Exploring transitional justice as an ‘idea’ rooted in international law and the inherent tensions with other disciplines, particularly development studies, transitional justice will then be discussed as an area of ‘past practice,’ looking at how mechanisms have included the participation (or non-participation) of children. With the ‘missing link’ being that of participation rooted in the experiences of everyday life, the paper seeks to convey how a case for the meaningful participation of children in transitional justice can be built on the foundation of participatory rights, and how to ascertain and respond to the local realities (including those social, economic and cultural rights) of children; issues which cut across both development and law. It will be suggested that an opportunity exists for international development and international law to combine their respective forces to address the gap, with clear potential for impact on practice.