Transitional Justice and the ‘Disappeared’ of Northern Ireland

Transitional Justice and the ‘Disappeared’ of Northern Ireland PDF Author: Lauren Dempster
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351239368
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
This book employs a transitional justice lens to address the ‘disappearances’ that occurred during the Northern Ireland conflict – or ‘Troubles’ – and the post-conflict response to these ‘disappearances.’ Despite an extensive literature around ‘dealing with the past’ in Northern Ireland, as well as a substantial body of scholarship on ‘disappearances’ in other national contexts, there has been little scholarly scrutiny of ‘disappearances’ in post-conflict Northern Ireland. Although the Good Friday Agreement brought relative peace to Northern Ireland, no provision was made for the establishment of some form of overarching truth and reconciliation commission aimed at comprehensively addressing the legacy of violence. Nevertheless, a mechanism to recover the remains of the ‘disappeared’ – the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) – was established, and has in fact proven to be quite effective. As a result, the reactions of key constituencies to the ‘disappearances’ can be used as a prism through which to comprehensively explore issues of relevance to transitional justice scholars and practitioners. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach, and based on extensive empirical research, this book provides a multifaceted exploration of the responses of these constituencies to the practice of ‘disappearing.’ It engages with transitional justice themes including silence, memory, truth, acknowledgement, and apology. Key issues examined include the mobilisation efforts of families of the ‘disappeared,’ efforts by a (former) non-state armed group to address its legacy of violence, the utility of a limited immunity mechanism to incentivise information provision, and the interplay between silence and memory in the shaping of a collective, societal understanding of the ‘disappeared.’

Transitional Justice and the ‘Disappeared’ of Northern Ireland

Transitional Justice and the ‘Disappeared’ of Northern Ireland PDF Author: Lauren Dempster
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351239368
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

Get Book

Book Description
This book employs a transitional justice lens to address the ‘disappearances’ that occurred during the Northern Ireland conflict – or ‘Troubles’ – and the post-conflict response to these ‘disappearances.’ Despite an extensive literature around ‘dealing with the past’ in Northern Ireland, as well as a substantial body of scholarship on ‘disappearances’ in other national contexts, there has been little scholarly scrutiny of ‘disappearances’ in post-conflict Northern Ireland. Although the Good Friday Agreement brought relative peace to Northern Ireland, no provision was made for the establishment of some form of overarching truth and reconciliation commission aimed at comprehensively addressing the legacy of violence. Nevertheless, a mechanism to recover the remains of the ‘disappeared’ – the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) – was established, and has in fact proven to be quite effective. As a result, the reactions of key constituencies to the ‘disappearances’ can be used as a prism through which to comprehensively explore issues of relevance to transitional justice scholars and practitioners. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach, and based on extensive empirical research, this book provides a multifaceted exploration of the responses of these constituencies to the practice of ‘disappearing.’ It engages with transitional justice themes including silence, memory, truth, acknowledgement, and apology. Key issues examined include the mobilisation efforts of families of the ‘disappeared,’ efforts by a (former) non-state armed group to address its legacy of violence, the utility of a limited immunity mechanism to incentivise information provision, and the interplay between silence and memory in the shaping of a collective, societal understanding of the ‘disappeared.’

Transitional Justice and the Politics of Inscription

Transitional Justice and the Politics of Inscription PDF Author: Joseph Robinson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351966766
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Taking Northern Ireland as its primary case study, this book applies the burgeoning literature in memory studies to the primary question of transitional justice: how shall societies and individuals reckon with a traumatic past? Joseph Robinson argues that without understanding how memory shapes, moulds, and frames narratives of the past in the minds of communities and individuals, theorists and practitioners may not be able to fully appreciate the complex, emotive realities of transitional political landscapes. Drawing on interviews with what the author terms "memory curators," coupled with a robust analysis of secondary literature from a range of transitional cases, the book analyses how the bodies of the dead, the injured, and the traumatised are written into - or written out of - transitional justice. The author argues that scholars cannot appreciate the dynamism of transitional memory-space unless they first engage with the often silenced or marginalised voices whose memories remain trapped behind the antagonistic politics of fear and division. Ultimately challenging the imperative of national reconciliation, the author argues for a politics of public memory that incubates at multiple nodes of social production and can facilitate a vibrant, democratic debate over the ways in which a traumatic past can or should be remembered.

Truth, Denial and Transition

Truth, Denial and Transition PDF Author: Cheryl Lawther
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317755502
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Truth, Denial and Transition: Northern Ireland and the Contested Past makes a unique and timely contribution to the transitional justice field. In contrast to the focus on truth and those societies where truth recovery has been central to dealing with the aftermath of human rights violations, comparatively little scholarly attention has been paid to those jurisdictions whose transition from violent conflict has been marked by the absence or rejection of a formal truth process. This book draws upon the case study of Northern Ireland, where, despite a lengthy debate, the question of establishing a formal truth recovery process remains hotly contested. The strongest and most vocal opposition has been from unionist political elites, loyalist ex-combatants and members of the security forces. Based on empirical research, their opposition is unpicked and interrogated at length throughout this book. Critically exploring notions of national imagination and blamelessness, the politics of victimhood and the tension between traditions of sacrifice and the fear of betrayal, this book is the first substantive effort to concentrate on the opponents of truth recovery rather than its advocates. This book will interest those studying truth processes and transitional justice in the fields of Law, Politics, and Criminology.

Ex-Combatants, Religion, and Peace in Northern Ireland

Ex-Combatants, Religion, and Peace in Northern Ireland PDF Author: J. Brewer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137299363
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Studies of Northern Ireland's ex-combatants ignore religion, while advocates of religious interventions in transitional justice exaggerate its influence. Using interview data with ex-combatants, this book explores religious influences upon violence and peace, and develops a model for evaluating the role of religion in transitional justice.

Truth recovery in Northern Ireland

Truth recovery in Northern Ireland PDF Author: Kirk Simpson
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1847797288
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Northern Ireland has entered what is arguably the key phase in its troubled political history – truth recovery and dealing with the legacy of the past – yet the void in knowledge and the lack of academic literature with regard to victims’ rights is particularly striking. This book, newly available in paperback, analyses truth recovery as a fundamental aspect of the transition from political violence to peace, democracy and stability in post-conflict Northern Ireland. Kirk Simpson argues that it is essential for any process of truth recovery in Northern Ireland to provide the victims of political violence with the opportunity to express and articulate their narratives of suffering within the context of public dialogic processes. He outlines a unique and original model: that victims of political violence should be enabled to engage in meaningful truth recovery through a Habermasian process of public democratic deliberation and communication involving direct dialogue with the perpetrators of such violence. This process of ‘communicative justice’ is framed within Habermas’s theory of communicative action and can help to ensure that legitimate truth recovery publicly acknowledges the trauma of victims and subjects perpetrator narratives of political violence to critical scrutiny and rational deconstruction. Crucially, the book aims to contribute to the empowerment of victims in Northern Ireland by stimulating constructive discussion and awareness of hitherto silenced narratives of the conflict. This difficult and unsettling interrogation and interpretation of the conflict from a comparatively ‘unknown perspective’ is central to the prospects for critically examining and mastering the past in Northern Ireland.

Ex-Combatants, Religion, and Peace in Northern Ireland

Ex-Combatants, Religion, and Peace in Northern Ireland PDF Author: J. Brewer
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9781349452705
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
Studies of Northern Ireland's ex-combatants ignore religion, while advocates of religious interventions in transitional justice exaggerate its influence. Using interview data with ex-combatants, this book explores religious influences upon violence and peace, and develops a model for evaluating the role of religion in transitional justice.

Justice in Transition

Justice in Transition PDF Author: Anna Eriksson
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1843925184
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Based on an extensive range of interviews with key players involved in the restorative justice projects in the Republican and Loyalist communities of Northern Ireland, this book not only shows how the projects in this area have been central to the groundbreaking changes in this area, but also explores the wider implications for restorative justice internationally.

Unionist Voices and the Politics of Remembering the Past in Northern Ireland

Unionist Voices and the Politics of Remembering the Past in Northern Ireland PDF Author: Kirk Simpson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230244890
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
Simpson offers a reflective and theoretical explanation of the ways in which unionists conceive of the past in the present post-conflict environment. He considers the ways in which scholarly literature has often painted an outdated and inaccurate portrait of a highly complex people.

Beyond Transitional Justice

Beyond Transitional Justice PDF Author: Matthew Evans
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000564789
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 85

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Book Description
Beyond Transitional Justice reflects upon the state of the field (or non-field) of transitional justice in the current conjuncture, as well as identifying new possibilities and challenges in the fields with which transitional justice overlaps (such as human rights, peacebuilding, and development). Chapters intervene at the cutting edge of contemporary transitional justice research, addressing key theoretical and empirical questions and covering critical, international, interdisciplinary, theoretical, and practice-oriented content. In particular, the notion of transformative justice is discussed in light of the emerging scholarship defining and applying this concept as either an approach within or an alternative to transitional justice. The book considers the extent to which transformative justice as a concept adds value to scholarship on transitional justice and related areas and asks what the future might hold for this area as a field – or non-field. A timely intervention, Beyond Transitional Justice is ideal reading for scholars and students in the fields of human rights, peace and conflict studies, international law, critical legal theory, development studies, criminology, and victimology.

Beyond the Wire

Beyond the Wire PDF Author: Peter Shirlow
Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
Unique behind-the-scenes account of the Camp David peace talks.