Through the Looking Glass: Transitional Justice Futures through the Lens of Nationalism, Feminism and Transformative Change

International Journal of Transitional Justice, Forthcoming

Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper No. 14-48

30 Pages Posted: 25 Nov 2014 Last revised: 27 Nov 2014

See all articles by Kris Brown

Kris Brown

Ulster University - Transitional Justice Institute

Fionnuala D. Ni Aolain

University of Minnesota Law School; The Queens University of Belfast

Date Written: November 25, 2014

Abstract

In reflecting on the contemporary challenges and future directions of transitional justice theory and practice, this article addresses causality, accountability and political form in a triangulated assessment of nationalism’s power and ‘stickiness’ in the present formulations of transitional solutions. Addressing the identity politics of transitional justice brings us to assess the political forms that enable, define and consume transition with a particular hew to power sharing and consociationalism-type arrangements in the aftermath of systematic atrocity. The authors provide a pragmatic, perhaps cynical account of the triumph of consociationalism as the preferred transitional accommodation, and point to the ‘dark side’ of governance arrangements in postconflict settings with implications for understanding cycles of violence and repeat conflict patterns. In both contexts, we deploy a feminist lens to understand the implications for women and gender transformation emerging from our framing of the politics of transitional justice in the contemporary moment.

Keywords: Transitional Justice, nationalism, feminism, power sharing, consociationalism, memory, identity, conflict, war

Suggested Citation

Brown, Kris and Ni Aolain, Fionnuala D., Through the Looking Glass: Transitional Justice Futures through the Lens of Nationalism, Feminism and Transformative Change (November 25, 2014). International Journal of Transitional Justice, Forthcoming , Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper No. 14-48, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2530634

Kris Brown

Ulster University - Transitional Justice Institute ( email )

Shore Road
Newtownabbey, County Antrim BT37 OQB
Northern Ireland

HOME PAGE: http://www.transitionaljustice.ulster.ac.uk/index.html

Fionnuala D. Ni Aolain (Contact Author)

University of Minnesota Law School ( email )

229 19th Ave. So.
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States
612-624-2318 (Phone)
612-625-2011 (Fax)

The Queens University of Belfast ( email )

University Square
Belfast, County Down
Northern Ireland

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