Transitional and Transformative Justice

Abstract

This book engages the limits of transitional justice and, more specifically, the interface between transitional justice and the related concept of transformative justice. Challenging and developing the work of transitional justice scholars and practitioners, the book addresses both the limitations of existing mechanisms in contexts where they are currently applied, as well as the possibilities for using, or adapting, transitional justice mechanisms in contexts typically viewed as outside their usual remit. More specifically, chapters address shortcomings with regard to victim participation in transitional justice mechanisms in Cambodia; consider how the transformative justice framework might be mobilised to overcome limitations of standard approaches to transitional justice in addressing structural violence in post-conflict Colombia; and address how the concept of transformative justice could be used to address historical wrongs in post-apartheid South Africa and post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina. Further chapters explore the intersections of identity and culture with transitional and transformative justice, consider the role of elites in transitional and transformative justice, and put forward the case for applying a broader approach to historical truth telling than is typical in transitional justice.