Mass Atrocity, Collective Memory and the Law

Osiel, Mark J.

doi:10.4324/9780203786154

Cited by 39 publications

(55 citation statements)

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“…The demarcation of this expanding scope, however, is constantly debated. One such particularly disputed aspect of the didactic function of atrocity trials assigns the courts an active role in remembering the past, through history writing and the formation of collective memory (Douglas ; Osiel ; Wilson ). Nonetheless, history writing in the courtroom remains a challenged endeavor (Wilson ) with controversy around the status of the historical narrative that is produced by the court, whether these are established facts or merely a contextual background, the narrative's reception, and its public legitimacy (Milanović ).…”

Section: The Functions Of Quantitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Atrocity, Mass Testimony, and the Quantitative Turn in International Law

Keydar¹

2019

Law Soc Rev

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The article identifies and analyses the development it labels the “quantitative turn” in international criminal law. Addressing the cumulative effect of the large numbers of witnesses in international processes, the article considers quantity as an integral, and substantively beneficial, component of the law's response to atrocity crimes. The article develops a theorized understanding of the relationship between mass atrocity and mass testimony and provides a taxonomy of the functions that the quantity of testimonies fulfills in international trials: the evidentiary, didactic, epistemic, and restorative functions. Focusing on a recent case before the International Criminal Court in the matter of The Prosecutor v. Bemba, the article demonstrates how the different players in the international justice system—Prosecution, Defense, Victims, and the Court—employ the functions of quantity, while negotiating concerns over manageability and scale. The goal of this article is to prompt a debate and a more careful consideration of the potential benefits of a meaningful participation of witnesses and victims in post‐atrocity proceedings. This is particularly important given the dominance of the efficiency paradigm in international criminal law (ICL) discourse, which directly impacts the quantitative turn. The article forges new ways for ICL institutions to maintain a plurality of voices and their commitment to victims while safeguarding the rights of the accused.

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Section: The Functions Of Quantitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Atrocity, Mass Testimony, and the Quantitative Turn in International Law

Keydar¹

2019

Law Soc Rev

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“…The demarcation of this expanding scope, however, is constantly debated. One such particularly disputed aspect of the didactic function of atrocity trials assigns the courts an active role in remembering the past, through history writing and the formation of collective memory (Douglas 2001;Osiel 1999;Wilson 2011). Nonetheless, history writing in the courtroom remains a challenged endeavor (Wilson 2011) with controversy around the status of the historical narrative that is produced by the court, whether these are established facts or merely a contextual background, the narrative's reception, and its public legitimacy (Milanovi c 2017).…”

Section: The Didactic Function-representing the Atrocious Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Atrocity, Mass Testimony, and the Quantitative Turn in International Law

Keydar

2019

SSRN Journal

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“…Whereas the framers of the Spanish transition saw any reckoning with state violence as deleterious to a still‐fragile polity, “seeking and telling the truth about the past is at the heart of transitional justice” (Humphrey , 259). Transitional justice advocates believe truth commissions, war crimes tribunals, and public apologies can “make people willing to reassess their foundational beliefs and constitutive commitments, as few events in political life can do” (Osiel , 2). On this account, historical narration takes on a therapeutic character, allowing victims to “free themselves from uncertainty” and gain recognition for their suffering; perpetrators to “abandon their exculpatory speeches and commit themselves to reparations”; and all citizens to reconcile around the joint project of adherence “to the rules required by a democratic order” (Sánchez‐Gómez ).…”

Section: Diverging Paths Of Memory Politics: the Spanish State And Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Francisco Franco governs from beyond the grave: An infrastructural approach to memory politics in contemporary Spain

Rubin

2018

American Ethnologist

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A B S T R A C TFour decades after the end of the Franco dictatorship, many Spaniards continue to question their country's claims to full democracy. Although Spain is now governed by popularly elected governments, citizens still experience the coercive effects of the dictatorship's policies in their daily interactions with the built environment, state institutions, and even their fellow citizens. These heterogeneous sites through which the dictatorship makes its presence felt constitute an infrastructure of memory that facilitates and impedes the circulation of past experience. In this context, people enact memory politics not only by contesting narratives of the past but also, first and foremost, by disand reassembling the physical, institutional, and social entanglements that undergird democratic politics. [infrastructures, cultural memory, democratic politics, forensic exhumations, archives, Spain] Cuatro décadas después del fin de la dictadura franquista, muchos españoles siguen cuestionando la calificación de su país como democracia plena. Si bien los gobiernos de España son elegidos popularmente, los ciudadanos siguen siendo afectados por las políticas de la dictadura en sus interacciones diarias con el ambiente construido, con las instituciones del estado, e incluso con otros ciudadanos. Estas ubicaciones heterogéneas, a través de las cuales la dictadura hace sentir su presencia, constituyen una infraestructura de la memoria que facilita e impide la circulación de la experiencia del pasado. En este contexto, las políticas de la memoria consisten no sólo en disputar narrativas del pasado, sino principalmente y ante todo en ensamblar y desensamblar los enredos físicos, institucionales y sociales que afianzan la política democrática. [infraestructuras, memoria cultural, política democrática, exhumaciones forenses, archivos, España]

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Mass Atrocity, Collective Memory and the Law

Cited by 39 publications

References 0 publications

Mass Atrocity, Mass Testimony, and the Quantitative Turn in International Law

Mass Atrocity, Mass Testimony, and the Quantitative Turn in International Law

Mass Atrocity, Mass Testimony, and the Quantitative Turn in International Law

How Francisco Franco governs from beyond the grave: An infrastructural approach to memory politics in contemporary Spain

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