I travelled a lot doing "transition economics" for the World Bank and others as the Soviet Empire collapsed - this was basically just some bull I learned to get me on this particular bandwagon. Once violent conflict between groups has subsided, or some vile regime has collapsed, what is the best way to make a transition to civil society? Do former enemies need to ‘come to terms with their past’ if they are to live peacefully? If such a reckoning is required, what are the strategies of transition available to the parties? An almost total disbeliever in "economics" of any kind, I used to speak on the field of transitional justice, which involves the philosophical, legal and political investigation of the aftermath of wars, cold and otherwise. The history and difficulties associated with the operation of the two most important transitional policies: war crime tribunals and truth commissions - or the desire amongst the formerly suppressed to avoid continuing the "war" through revenge. There is a tension between a desire for calm after war or regime collapse and the importance of putting human rights violators on trial, the need, as part of a political transition, to create a reliable historical record of past abuses, the promise and limitations of international criminal law and the coherence of forgiveness in politics.
There is much work on the difficulties associated with war crime tribunals, the dilemmas involved in the operation of truth commissions and the possibility of forgetting as a response to mass atrocity - we often say we can forgive but not forget, but frankly our memories and history are generally pathetic. Generally, if we need a 'new way', how do we go about ensuring, as far as we can, that we don't just let old default squabbles ruin any chance we have? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
