Facing the Past

How do societies at the national and international level try to overcome historical injustices? What remedies did they develop to do justice to victims of large scale atrocities? And even more important: what have we learned from the implementation of these so-called instruments of transitional justice in practice?

Lawyers, socials scientists and historians have published shelves full of books and articles on how to confront the past through international criminal tribunals, truth commissions, financial compensation schemes and other instruments of retributive/punitive and restorative justice. A serious problem continues to be that broad interdisciplinary accounts that include both categories of measures are still hardly available. With this volume a group of international experts in the field endeavors to fill this gap, and even more. By alternating historical overviews with critical assessments this volume does not only offer an extensive introduction to the world of transitional justice, but also food for thought concerning the effectiveness of the remedies it offers to face the past successfully.

‘This synthetic volume is a comprehensive introduction to the various facets of the field of historical injustice of which transnational justice is its best known manifestation. This practical and thoughtful publication addresses critical aspects that challenge the goal of redressing the past as these are presented in scholarship, advocacy and policy. The book delves into questions from justice to ethics and to education and would be useful for students as well as policy makers.’
Elazar Barkan, Columbia University

‘This is a superb reference work on Transitional Justice, covering nearly all of the general questions regarding the various mechanisms in its toolbox, and the combinations thereof, and including case studies and pending cases. It provides expert analyses of transitional justice in post-conflict, post-authoritarian, and democratic states, presenting problems and solutions. The subjects broadly range from apologies to corporate complicity, to America’s self-proclaimed exceptionalism when it comes to confronting onerous chapters of its past. In recent years, a number of problematic cases have emerged that will require us to re-think the transitional justice toolbox – this volume offers a solid basis from which to depart’
Nanci Adler, University of Amsterdam