Righting Historical Wrongs?

Abstract

Transitional justice (TJ) measures such as amnesty and lustration laws, truth commissions, and reparation programs have been widely utilized worldwide in an effort to come to terms with dark pasts and mass atrocities. However, these measures have had varying levels of success, which begs the question: how successful really is TJ in enacting the change that needs to take place? To answer this question, an analysis into the imagination and implementation of TJ, its globalization and localization, and its relationship with democratization is conducted. Case studies include TJ measures in South Korea, Chile, Albania, and Rwanda and includes multilingual primary and secondary sources such as government reports, presidential speeches, academic and legal journals, museums, protest picket signs, literature, documentaries, and news articles. It is concluded that TJ measures are both successful and unsuccessful, which depends on (1) a desire from the people, (2) a balance between global and local efforts, and (3) whether one or multiple TJ measures are employed simultaneously. Specific policy and field recommendations are outlined at the end.