Transitional Justice Theories is the first volume to approach the politically sensitive subject of post-conflict or post-authoritarian justice from a theoretical perspective. It combines contributions from distinguished scholars and practitioners as well as from emerging academics from different disciplines and provides an overview of conceptual approaches to the field. The volume seeks to refine our understanding of transitional justice by exploring often unarticulated assumptions that guide discourse and practice. This book will be of particular interest for scholars and students of law, peace and conflict studies, and human rights studies. Even though highly theoretical, the chapters provide an easy read for a wide audience including readers not familiar with theoretical investigations.

Transitional Justice Theories: An Introduction Part One: Theorizing Transitional Justice Chapter 1 Transformative Justice, Reconciliation, and Peacebuilding Chapter 2 Rethinking Reconciliation in Divided Societies: A Social Learning Theory of Transitional Justice Chapter 3 The Plural Justice Aims of Reparations Chapter 4 Political Liberalism after Mass Violence: John Rawls and a 'Theory' of Transitional Justice Chapter 5 The Vertical and Horizontal Expansion of Transitional Justice: Explanations and Implications for a Contested Field Part Two Exploring the Limits of Transitional Justice Chapter 6 Bargaining Justice: A Theory of Transitional Justice Compliance Chapter 7 Narrative Truths: On the Construction of the Past in Truth Commissions Chapter 8 Redressive Politics and the Nexus of Trauma, Transitional Justice, and Reconciliation Chapter 9 Forgetting the Embodied Past: Body Memory in Transitional Justice Chapter 10 Understanding the Political Economy of Transitional Justice: A Critical Theory Perspective