Individual sessions will be held on Thursdays 10-12 synchronously on Zoom (contact time). Registration for this seminar will take place via PULS during the official enrollment period. Please enroll by 4/14/21. Access information for the first Zoom session will be posted here on 04/14/21. If there are more than 25 registrations, a decision on admission will be made after the first seminar session. close

The exam requirement includes taking a paper and completing a term paper. Please upload your term paper as a pdf file to Moodle in the designated session by Sept. 30, 2021. A print version is not required. Please note that the acceptance of your examination performance is only subject to a valid PULS registration. If you wish to submit an examination performance, please register for the module examination on PULS by September 15, 2021. close

Recognizing and addressing past injustices has become a central feature of contemporary measures of international conflict resolution, particularly in countries that have overcome intra-state conflict and authoritarian rule. In recent decades, transitional justice (TJ) has emerged as an interdisciplinary field of research and practice that aims to understand and implement a complex set of policies and goals: from strengthening democratic and peacebuilding processes to national reconciliation. From an interdisciplinary perspective, in this seminar we will: Examine international, national and local Transitional Justice actors and approaches; Analyze different TJ mechanisms such as judicial prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations programs, and memory work; Engage with normative and policy debates raised by Transitional Justice processes; Evaluate the effects and effectiveness of Transitional Justice interventions; Examine several cases in which TJ measures have been implemented to address past atrocities; and Discuss issues of policy and practice related to Transitional Justice. Focusing on both general theoretical questions and specific case studies, we consider a variety of issues related to Transitional Justice: what are the social and political legacies left by experiences of violence and autocratic rule? What are the best ways to deal with the long-term consequences of violence? What is the impact of transitional justice on democratization and reconciliation? What role does truth-telling play in rebuilding societies? Do societies have to choose between truth and justice? What role should traditional justice mechanisms play in transitional justice processes? What are the advantages and disadvantages of international versus national approaches? close

Ruti Teitel. 2002. Transitional Justice, Oxford University Press. Leigh Payne, Tricia Olsen, and Andrew G. Reiter. 2010. Transitional Justice in Balance: Comparing Processes, Wieghing Efficacy, Washington: USIP. Jon Elster. 2004. Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective, Cambridge University Press. Joanna R. Quinn. 2009. Reconciliation(s): Transitional Justice in Post-Conflict Societies, Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press. Alexander Laban Hinton (ed.). 2010. Transitional Justice: Global Mechanisms and Local Realities after Genocide and Mass Violence, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Chandra Lekha Sriram and Suren Pillay. 2009. Peace Versus Justice? The Dilemma of Transitional Justice in Africa, Durban: University of KwaZulu Natal Press. Alexandra Barahona De Brito, Carmen González-Enriquez and Paloma Aguilar (eds.). 2001. The Politics of Memory: Transitional Justice in Democratizing Societies, Oxford: Oxford University Press. close