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| 1 |
ID:
165126
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper examines mine action in Cambodia and its implications for common conceptions of civil society and transitional justice. The complexities of past Cambodian conflicts and the strained state-civil society relationship at present have led to a complicated legacy of landmines. The collective harm Cambodian people have experienced also blurs the line between victimhood and perpetration of crime, further complicating transitional justice in the Cambodian context. Exploring the link between mine action and transitional justice in Cambodia reveals that civil society organisations involved in mine action are not separate from the state contrary to the common conceptualisation of civil society as autonomous. It also demonstrates that mine action is responding to more complex elements of Cambodian conflicts than the retributive model of transitional justice. The participatory approaches to mine action highlight local agency and active involvement, which are crucial in creating a civil society that encourages an empowered citizenry.
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| 2 |
ID:
165125
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| Summary/Abstract |
Interventions such as courts and truth commissions are elements of an internationally established transitional justice (TJ) toolkit. Such measures are rarely sustainable or in place after the occurrence of mass violence. Those affected then have to themselves get active to restore social relationships. Civil society plays an important role in these transitions, but civil society also needs to be scrutinised to deconstruct reductionist conceptualisations in TJ discourses. Taking the Moluccan conflict and peace process as a case study, this paper looks into alternative ways that communities seek to transition from violence to peace and in the process ask for forms of justice not exclusively related to physical violence. Instead, communities focus on continuing social injustices that they believe underlie this violence. Analysis of the case study promotes an understanding of TJ not primarily as transitional, but as transformative and performative. In this way locally driven transitional justice mechanisms look not only into the past and legacies of violence, but also into legacies of harmony and peace and the emergence of integrative means in the future. The case study shows that forms of art in Maluku were turned into a force that aimed to reintegrate society divided by violence and unite society to resist exploitation and suppression by outside forces. Young people played important roles in this dynamic. The search for reconciliation in Maluku was in this way transformed into a broader struggle against structural violence and destructive outside interventions and for social justice and sustainable peace.
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| 3 |
ID:
165122
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines kastom reconciliations as practiced in a Melanesian cultural context in the resolution of everyday disputes and as a means of peacebuilding after large-scale violent conflict. It explores Melanesian-style reconciliation in relation to the conventional international discourse on transitional justice, asking whether kastom reconciliations are – or can be – an alternative to, or a specific ‘vernacularised’ form of, transitional justice. Using examples primarily from post-conflict Bougainville and Solomon Islands, the article addresses some of the strengths and limitations of kastom reconciliation in comparison to those of transitional justice. In conclusion it is posited that protagonists of transitional justice could gain insights from the study of Melanesian reconciliations that would help them to reflect on their own taken-for-granted assumptions and consider avenues for developing the concept of transitional justice, making it more meaningful, effective and legitimate in a context such as Melanesia.
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| 4 |
ID:
165123
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| Summary/Abstract |
Transitional justice (TJ) scholarship and practice often pins much hope on civil society. It generally assumes that civil society organisations demonstrate ‘civility’, have broad-based memberships, support liberal democratic values and promote TJ approaches based on liberal-legal justice strategies. Yet there is nothing inherently virtuous about civil society and in conflict-affected societies it often lacks these desired properties; it can be underdeveloped, unruly and disruptive. So, what role do, and should, ‘uncivil’ society groups play in TJ processes? To answer this question this article uses comparative case studies of the role of uncivil society groups in Bougainville and Timor-Leste. These cases exhibit similar broad cultural, socio-political and socio-economic characteristics. In both cases uncivil society groups are organised around societal divisions, attempt to operate as alternatives to the state, oppose liberal democracy and liberal-legal TJ processes and engage in unruly behaviour, including violence and criminality. These uncivil society groups are not regarded as internationally legitimate, but they nevertheless have strong local legitimacy, particularly when the state is absent or weak. Consequently, this article concludes that in conflict-affected societies it is necessary to engage with groups regarded as both civil and uncivil to promote locally legitimate and effective TJ, and peace more broadly.
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| 5 |
ID:
165121
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article, and the special issue it introduces, joins an emerging conversation about the role of civil society in transitional justice (TJ). Although civil society organisations play an integral role in the pursuit of TJ in conflict-affected societies, the literature lacks a comprehensive conceptualisation of the diversity and complexity of these roles. Building on an interdisciplinary workshop at the Australian National University in September 2016, the contributions to this special issue explore the forms of civil society that are enabled and disabled by TJ processes and the forms of TJ activity that are enabled and disabled by different kinds of civil society actors.
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| 6 |
ID:
165124
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| Summary/Abstract |
Taking Timor-Leste and Aceh, Indonesia, as case studies, this article examines the spaces that are imagined and created by activist-led commemorations of conflict-related violence. Focusing on recent commemorations of the Liquica Church Massacre in Timor-Leste and Simpang KKA in Aceh, it uncovers how these memory spaces are shaped and constrained by the interplay between the globally circulating discourse of transitional justice and the power dynamics resulting from the respective peace settlements. At the same time, it posits that these examples of memory activism contain creative possibilities for encouraging public debate and democratic participation, and for locally grounded forms of mourning. This is due to the multiple, dynamic, relational, spaces that emerge from the embodied encounters of those present at the commemorations.
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