Transitional Justice en mensenrechten: een interdisciplinair perspectief

This course will explore the field of Transitional Justice in relation to Human Rights from an interdisciplinary perspective. Transitional Justice has been called a ‘defining global movement of our time’; addressing the long-term effects of human rights violations and providing instruments to deal with them through judicial and non-judicial approaches: criminal trials and tribunals, apologies, historical commissions, commemorations and institutional reforms; all put in place in various contexts, generating both praise and critique. While the first generation of Transitional Justice focused on the transition of states (from an era of injustice, violence and oppression towards peace and democracy), the new generation includes different actors and instruments, emphasizing restorative, retributive, reparative or redistributive justice, aiming for systemic and institutional change. Dealing with past wrongdoings has developed into a conversation also about ongoing injustices, which often means to link local, national, and transnational concerns.  

The course (1) introduces key concepts, theories and models in Transitional Justice and Human Rights and reflects on how the role of the state, civil society, victims and other actors evolved over time. 

The course (2) discusses challenges from postcolonial and gender perspectives, and reviews current recognition claims that highlight different rights violations and stakeholders involved.   

The course (3) examines the concepts of recognition and justice in a critical way, linking anthropological, historical, psychological, sociological, political and legal knowledge to reflect upon the parameters informing our understanding of rights, recognition and justice.  

The course (4) introduces methodologies for people-centered approaches to questions of ‘reparatory justice’ through the concept and theory of Transformative Justice, discussing also how to translate knowledge into practice and vice versa.  

The course will teach students to operationalize concepts and tools of Transitional Justice and Human Rights, familiarize them with challenges of the fields, and provide them with a critical understanding of justice questions at a local, national, and global level.  

Structure, per week:

• Introduction and Welcome: Development of Human Rights and Transitional Justice
• Transitional Justice as a Field
• The Legal: Law & Rights
• The Political: History & Memory
• The Social: Talking (In)Justice
• Institutions & Civil Society
• The Srebrenica Genocide: Holding the International Communtity Accountable?
• Transformative Justice

Each week we have a lecture (linking a conceptual lecture to a case study) and a seminar (engaging with self chosen cases). During the first four seminars, students prepare small group presentations on a case-study of their choice.

Workfield: This module targets students aiming to broaden their expertise on the social, political, and legal dimension of well-being, and to work in the field of NGOs, Ministries, or Human Rights. The course will sensitize students to social injustice and provide skills to address the issues at stake from an interdisciplinary perspective. They learn to analyse data in relation to various concepts of justice. 

After successful completion of the course, students are able to:

1. Critically reflect on what a just society entails in a globalising context and the normativity inherent in certain conceptualisations of justice. (learning outcomes 2b, 3a).
2. Get to know key concepts in human rights and transitional justice, inspired by an interdisciplinary - humanities and social science - approach. (1a, 1b).
3. Critically evaluate current scholarly debates in the field of human rights and transitional justice. (learning outcomes 1a, 3a).
4. Apply theoretical and methodical concepts within human rights and transitional justice research in a transparent and systematic manner within the various (group and individual) research assignments. (learning outcome 2c).
5. Writing a scientific article that based upon knowledge about human rights and transitional justice develops a clear, convincing but also reflexive argumentation. (learning outcomes 1a, 1b, 2c, 3a, 4a).