Publication

This paper draws attention to some problematic issues of transitional justice policies as promoted by international organizations, bilateral donors and NGOs. It argues that through the crystallization of a transitional justice norm on the international level, its institutionalization in temporary legal bodies and specialized organizations, and the professionalization of the field, transitional justice has become bureaucratized. Drawing on existing critical theoretical and empirical literature and on the author’s own extensive field research this working paper deconstructs the underlying assumptions and conceptualizations that guide most international transitional justice interventions. It identifies some of the conceptual and moral dilemmas that emerge from such depoliticized, prescriptive, technocratic and teleological approaches toward post-conflict justice.