Overview

Restorative justice is increasingly being applied to settings characterized by large-scale violence and human rights abuses. While many embrace this development as an important step in attempts to transform protracted conflict, there are a number of conceptual challenges in transporting restorative justice from a democratic setting to one which has been affected by mass victimisation or civil war. These include responding to the seriousness and scale of harms that have been caused, the blurred boundaries between victims and offenders, and the difficulties associated with holding someone to account and compelling reparative activities. Despite reams of paper being devoted to defining restorative justice within democratic settings (where the concept first emerged), restorative scholars have been slow to comment on the integration of restorative justice into the transitional justice discourse. Restorative Justice in Transitional Settings brings together a number of leading scholars from around the world to respond to this gap by developing and further articulating restorative justice for transitional settings. These scholars push the boundaries of restorative justice to seek more effective approaches to addressing the causes and consequences of conflict and oppression in these diverse contexts. Each chapter highlights a limitation with current conceptions of restorative justice in the transitional justice literature and then suggests a way in which the limitation might be overcome. This book has strong interdisciplinary value and will be of interest to criminologists, legal scholars, and those engaged with international relations and peace treaties.

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9780367597092

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This collection of provocative essays is the first attempt to expand the boundaries of restorative justice by tackling the myths that surround its definition and capabilities and by imaginatively addressing how its tenets can make transitional justice practice more relevant to those affected by direct and structural violence. By moving beyond the toolkit of supposed restorative practices in transitional justice, these essays challenge the reader to reconceptualize the meanings of justice away from the perpetrator-victim dichotomy towards a transformational vision of societal change. Professor Harvey Weinstein, Senior Research Fellow, Human Rights Center; Clinical Professor (Ret.), School of Public Health; Co-Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, International Journal of Transitional Justice, Berkeley, USA This volume is simultaneously critical and inspirational. The authors reflect honestly on the deep structural challenges and the intense personal dimensions of addressing mass human rights violations while exploring options for navigating this complex terrain. The authors provide carefully considered and innovative suggestions for how restorative responses can be more effectively integrated into transitional justice approaches. These ideas present a timely challenge and stimulus for transitional justice scholars, practitioners and policy makers. The key argument of this volume, that restorative justice can be used as a mechanism or lens through which local actors can claim a more significant stake in dealing with the past while building their future, is an important reminder of the transformative potential inherent in transitional contexts. This volume points to how this potential can be promoted through critical and creative scholarship. Dr Hugo van der Merwe, Head of Research, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa Restorative Justice in Transitional Setti

Author Information

Kerry Clamp is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the Department of Social Sciences and Psychology at the University of Western Sydney. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Leeds in 2010 and also holds degrees from the University of Sheffield and the University of South Africa. Her research agenda focuses on the intersections of restorative justice and transitional justice, and of restorative justice and policing.

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