Victims, Violence, and Voice: Transitional Justice, Oral History, and Dealing with the Past

Authors

Anna Bryson

Abstract

Transitional justice is concerned with the legal and social processes established to deal with the legacy of violence in post-authoritarian and post-conflict contexts. The interview-in different guises, contexts and settings-is at the heart of most transitional justice processes. Prosecutorial mechanisms, truth recovery commissions, assessments for reparations, applications for amnestyall of these and more are fueled by the art of one human being interviewing another and then presenting or "re-presenting" the material recorded, to make it "fit" with the broader transitional goals of a particular institution. Most transitional justice institutions are, in the final analysis, "creatures of law." They are typically established by statute, their work is molded and shaped by lawyers, and their outcomes are benchmarked against what is or is not acceptable under domestic and international law.

Recommended Citation

Anna Bryson, Victims, Violence, and Voice: Transitional Justice, Oral History, and Dealing with the Past, 39 Hastings Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 299 (2016).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_international_comparative_law_review/vol39/iss2/1