TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE AND REGIME CHANGE

Catalog description

Transitional Justice (TJ) is a concept and process that has become a driver for regime change and consolidation both in terms of democratic change and consolidation as well as towards authoritarianism. TJ is a process that begins during or after a war and conflict or a dictatorial regime. It is a concept that encompasses a number of measures, including different legal and political instruments and mechanisms that can weaken or accelerate processes of political regime and system change. TJ measures, such as trials, amnesties, truth or vetting commissions, memorials, or security sector reforms, aim at dealing with an unjust past and delegitimizing its system and leaders, and at the same time these measures create and legitimize a new political regime. In this course, students will receive a general overview of the variety of TJ measures. They will study and question the evidence on whether and how TJ measures affect both autocratic and democratic regime change. The course will deal with a number of case studies, including Rwanda, Colombia, Tunisia, Algeria, Germany, Hungary, Argentina, Chile, Post-Soviet eastern Europe, Sierra Leone, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Bosnia and the Middle East.