Settler Colonial States and Transitional Justice

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores tensions in the relationship between transitional justice and Indigenous demands for recognition (often expressed in terms of sovereignty and reparations for colonial systemic human rights abuses) in the settler colonial states of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. These states are usually absent from considerations of transitional justice. The author challenges this assumption. In recent years transitional justice mechanisms within settler colonial states, including reparations, apologies, inquiries, and truth commissions, have been adopted. However, these responses have been limited and do not address some of the core demands of Indigenous peoples including recognition of self-determination and sovereignty. The ongoing nature of settler colonialism complicates transitional justice processes: rectifying the past demands changing the structural conditions of the present relationship between Indigenous peoples and settler colonial states.