Critical Approaches to Transitional Justice and Reconciliation

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Transitional justice literature has grown from discussing regime changes, amnesty, and truth commissions, to considering customary justice mechanisms, regional/hybrid tribunals, and alternative forms of healing. With a renewed focus on the environment, LGBT+ approaches, and special attention given to subgroups who are essential to transitional processes—such as opposition movements and diaspora groups—this panel re-engages critical approaches to transitional justice.

Drawing from diverse political science subfields and transnational contexts–post-Franco Spain, the Cambodian American diaspora, post-war Sri Lanka, and Latin America–the panel sheds lights on the complexities surrounding the conceptualization and application of justice in post-conflict and democratizing societies. Meanwhile, it breaks from realist and idealist frameworks of transitional justice by inviting a critical discussion of international law, healing, amnesties, and post-conflict reconciliation.

This research contributes to a more holistic view of who is involved in transitional justice processes and how we conceive of justice in the modern era. The ongoing need for justice and reconciliation in post-conflict scenarios such as those in Southeast Asia and Latin America illustrate the practical implications of understanding the challenges and opportunities inherent in transitioning societies.

Sub Unit

• Division 45: Human Rights

Individual Presentations

• Unsettling Accounts: Legal Liabilities and Transformative Landscapes of Memory - Bronwyn Anne Leebaw, University of California, Riverside

• Elite Behavior in Negative Cases of Transitional Justice: An Embedded Case Study - Jessica M. Walker

• Conceptualizing Healing in the Cambodian American Diaspora after the ECCC - Saranyan Uthayakumar, University of Southern California

• Queering Transitional Justice in Post-war Sri Lanka - Prateek Srivastava, University of Cincinnati

• The Role of the IACHR in Overturning Amnesty Laws in Latin America - Francesca Parente, Christopher Newport University

Chair

• Cyanne E. Loyle Pennsylvania State University

Discussant

• Cyanne E. Loyle Pennsylvania State University