Coloniality in Transitional Justice studies: reconceptualizing the field

Abstract

Through a critical reading of the history of Transitional Justice, this talk argues that the field can incorporate coloniality into how transitional processes are studied and designed, and that pursuing this possibility is the most strategic way to explore its potential. Grounded in struggles on the ground, oriented towards structural goals such as democracy and peace, and continuously rewritten by different actors, the field is also marked by a vocabulary selected from a narrow set of experiences. To hold both sides together, I propose a typology with an objective element, the features that identify the field regardless of the setting, and a subjective element, each society's structures and visions of justice, which expand or limit what transitional processes can be. Locating coloniality in this subjective element could change how transitional processes are conceived and carried out or, at the very least, better explain their paths, limits and implementation challenges.

Bio

Bruna Santos is a doctoral researcher at RefLex, the Centre for Advanced Studies "Reflexive Globalisation and the Law: Colonial Legacies and their Implications in the 21st Century" at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Her dissertation examines colonial legacies and transitional justice in Brazil. She holds an LL.M. in Human Rights from Central European University and law degree from the Federal University of Bahia (Brazil). She was a German Chancellor Fellow and has worked with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and various NGOs as a leading human rights lawyer.