Editorial Note: From the Neocolonial 'Transitional' to Indigenous Formations of Justice

Abstract

It may seem odd that I am responding to the honor of the editors’ invitation to write this editorial note by questioning the premise of the current conception of the field of ‘transitional justice’ itself. The implied assumption of this field, it seems to me, is that the ‘developing’ society under examination is in transition from the state of being A, which we know, to becoming B, which we can predict. The precise question or theme of the study may vary, but the underlying inquiry seems to be whether that society can still maintain an acceptable level of what we, the ‘international community,’ recognize as justice during transition. I am not saying that this is true of every scholar or social actor in the field, but the explicit or implicit purpose of those whose work is informed by this conception of transitional justice seems to be as follows: Let us promote an intermediate level or degree of ‘justice,’ as we know or accept it to be, until the situation is ready for the next phase toward the ultimate goal of fulfillment of our vision of justice as it should be practiced everywhere in the world. Another possible purpose of scholars or social actors is to promote an ‘appropriate’ conception of justice for issues that are particular to ‘transition,’ such as finding an acceptable compromise on accountability for atrocities committed during a conflict in order to facilitate the process of ‘peacebuilding.’ In these or other similar scenarios, preference is given to a standard of justice that is mandated by the international community over indigenous or ‘traditional’ practices that are unacceptable because they are inconsistent with ‘universal’ human rights norms, as proclaimed by the international community. It seems to me that this external mandate is so much the presumed standard that even the possibility of an indigenous alternative conception of justice is not taken seriously at a theoretical or empirical level. If or to the extent that what I am saying is true, transitional justice scholarship and strategies are neocolonial because they view indigenous conceptions of justice as a distraction from the grand ‘modernizing’ mission of North Atlantic societies, 1 in the guise of the so-called ‘international community’ this time. I am using