On Deserving Victims and the Undeserving Poor: Exploring the Scope of Distributive Justice in Transitional Justice Theory and Practice

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between distributive justice and transitional justice in post-conflict societies with challenging socioeconomic demands. It revisits the main philosophical debate on distributive justice in the Anglo-American tradition and traces its reception by academics and practitioners in the fields of development, human rights, and transitional justice. The article shows that transitional justice often sets in motion an opportunity conception of distributive justice that revolves around individual responsibility and deservingness, which entails three negative consequences affecting victims and non-victims alike. First, it justifies an unequal guarantee of their economic and social rights; second, it undermines their self-respect; third, it exhausts public support for victim-oriented policies. In so doing, this article distances itself from the existing consensus that transitional justice and distributive justice are different spheres of justice and argues that it is necessary to develop theoretical frameworks that recognize their intimate connection to overcome the pitfalls identified.