Transitional Justice Research: An Overview of Latest Trends
Transitional Justice Research: An Overview of Latest Trends

Summary/Abstract: Transitional justice has gained prominence during the last two decades as a field of study and practice. An increasing number of new and old democracies and post-conflict countries has adopted a wide range of programs, practices and methods designed to reckon with the legacies of recent pasts marred by gross human rights abuses. Governments, civil society organizations as well as international actors have championed transitional justice for truth, justice and reconciliation goals and in the hope that such atrocities will never re-occur. Court trials for redress, truth, history and inquiry commissions, rewriting history textbooks, lustration, screening and vetting programs, access to secret files compiled on ordinary citizens, rehabilitation of former political prisoners, reintegration of former combatants, reforms of repressive state institutions, restitution of abusively confiscated property, official apologies and condemnations, citizens’ opinion tribunals, unofficial truth projects, museums and other memorialization initiatives are among the many reckoning methods implemented in post-communist settings and beyond. This article provides an overview of the main themes debated by transitional justice scholars, internationally as well as in Romania, and discusses some of the scholarly works that have made a significant impact in the field.

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