Transitional Justice. A Call for Decolonisation
Transitional Justice is part of the colonial order, it persists and is deeply embedded in ‘Euro- North American – centric modernity’. Even when transitional justice initiatives are comprehensive and holistic, they account for a colonial situation only to a limited extent, representing more compromises and easier ‘fixes.’ They, thus, address symptoms rather than causes; and […]
The end of transitional justice?
Transitional Justice could and should accept the challenge of decolonial thinking… but it may mean the end of its current form. The practice and standardization of TJ reflect and cement power structures and do not meet emancipatory aspirations. Of all the theoretical challenges transitional justice has had, the decolonial one is probably the most radical […]
Who are the victims?
Whether in truth-seeking, justice, reparations or “victim-centric” principles – transitional justice circulates around the notion of victims. But who is considered a victim? Legal and societal perceptions diverge on this matter and so do victims’ introspections. For effectively adopting a “victim-centric” approach, one might first need to move beyond naïve definitions of the concept and […]
Transitional justice in the US?
The U.S. certainly is the most visible country whose wealth was built – at least partly – on slavery. Passing legislation addressing the rights of those currently harmed by the consequence of African slavery would have far-reaching implications for the advancement of TJ. While it is so far difficult to gather bipartisan support at national […]
The Local Dimension Matters
By seeking justice via courts and truth commissions, emphasis is usually put on high-level perpetrators. It tends to be forgotten, however, that also national-level violence and its consequences are lived on a local dimension in cities and neighborhoods. While remembering might be practiced nationally, locally, practices of silence can persist. Which steps need to be […]
Mere Representation Is Not Enough
Indigenous peoples are among the most discriminated in the world. Transitional justice is supposed to draw a line between the past, a period of armed conflict & dictatorship, and the present. Yet, for indigenous people the line breaking with a violent past is often nowhere to be seen. Is the inclusion of indigenous perspectives in […]
Broadening The Past
The German name for “transitional justice” is “dealing with the past”, a useful notion as it broadens the subject matter of the field. Indeed, the “transitional” clause in the concept seems to latch policies of truth-seeking, reparation, justice and non-repetition to a certain type of scenario: a recent past before a political transition to peace […]
Is Germany’s apology for the Genocide in Namibia enough?
On Friday, May 28th, 2021, the German government apologized for its role in committing genocide in Namibia a century ago. More specifically, as reported by the BBC, the apology recognized that, as an Imperial power in Namibia, Germany was responsible for the killing, between 1904 and 1908, of tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama people, […]
„Non-repetition” means understanding the ongoing legacies
How should societies deal with the legacies of massive injustice and violence committed in the historical past? How can these strategies lead to “non-repetition”, in the future, of crimes committed in the past? In a conversation with Faith Alubbe recently, the author Louis Bickford got an interesting answer. Currently the Executive Director of the Kenya Land […]
On the meaning of non repetition
The idea of learning from the past so as not to repeat it is so commonly mentioned that it seems axiomatic and obvious. But a focus on legacies and path dependencies requires that we rethink any facile assumptions and delve deep into the complexities of ongoing violations of rights that result from earlier moments in […]
