Norm contestation and reconciliation: evidence from a regional transitional justice process in the Balkans

Abstract

We have limited understanding of how ethnic groups can achieve an agreement on tackling the legacy of war crimes, because transitional justice scholars have been focused primarily on challenges to post-conflict reconciliation. Addressing this gap, we investigate whether contestation over the norm of transitional justice prevents inter-ethnic reconciliation, operationalized by us as reconciliatory discourse. Empirical evidence is drawn from the study of debates conducted by a transnational advocacy network (RECOM), which proposes a regional fact-finding commission in the Balkans. Applying text analysis to identify key themes in these debates, we find reconciliatory discourse in those debates where there is norm contestation. Also, the spatial scale of a transitional justice process matters. We identify different patterns of discourse at different levels of debates. Debates containing 2 norm contestation are associated with ethnically-centered arguments at the national level, but with sustained scrutiny of proposed solutions at the regional level despite ethnic divisions.

Who chooses to remember? Diaspora participation in memorialization initiatives

“…Fletcher and Weinstein (2002) note that trials do not address society, rather focus on certain figureheads, and stress the importance of synergy with other transitional justice mechanisms to foster social repair within a community after conflict, particularly on the local level. Local ownership is encouraged throughout the Balkans, whether as a means of peacebuilding, regarding transitional justice, to encourage a stronger civil society, or in order to resolve political stagnation in the country (Belloni 2008;Bojicic-Dzelilovic, Ker-Lindsay, and Kostovicova 2013;Fischer and Simić 2015;Kostovicova and Bicquelet 2018). This makes research on bottom-up initiatives particularly worthwhile to examine.…”