1. The Intellectual Roots of Transitional Justice: An Introduction
Vincent Charles Keating
Center for War Studies
Marie Robin
L'institut d'études politiques de Paris

2. Transitional Justice
“response to systematic or widespread violations of human rights [that] seeks recognition for victims and the promotion of possibilities for peace, reconciliation and democracy”
“not a special form of justice but justice adapted to societies transforming themselves after a period of pervasive human rights abuse”

3. Transitional Justice
“response to systematic or widespread violations of human rights [that] seeks recognition for victims and the promotion of possibilities for peace, reconciliation and democracy”
“not a special form of justice but justice adapted to societies transforming themselves after a period of pervasive human rights abuse”

4. Contentious Terms Transitional
How different is it from non-transitional justice?
How does it interact with non-transitional justice?
What determines the length of the transitional period?
Who is included/not included in the transition?
Justice
When is it appropriate to move from non-transitional to transitional justice?
What are the ethical goals for the process?
Are the ethical goals synergistic or oppositional?
How do the transitional ethical goals interact pre-existing social norms?

5. Potential Justice Goals
Political
Peace
Liberal democracy (positive peace?)
Social
Recognition
Reconciliation
Judgmental/Punitive
Establishing social truth (through dialogue)
Reparations

6. Historicity of the Transitional Justice
Transitional justice as a socially/historically bounded concept
Particularly as a less-institutionalized form of justice?
Actors make decisions about the nature of transitional justice based on:
The nature of the problem that transitional justice is to solve/alleviate
Historical practice/norms of transitional justice
Strength of other prevailing social norms
Transitional justice is not simply ‘something’; it is part of a mutually constituted historical process, where agents act to change an environment that, at the same time, structures their agency

7. Importance of Intellectual History
Intellectual history can help us to
Avoid presentism
Understand the existence/strength of the current norms of transitional justice
Understand the reasons for fundamental disagreement over different interpretations of transitional justice
Reflect on whether our present position makes ethical sense by opening up previous situated arguments/practices