CIRR – Call for papers: Transitional Justice Special Issue

Croatian International Relations Review (CIRR)

Vol. XXI, No. 74 (Autumn-2015)

In autumn 2015 the Croatian International Relations Review will publish a Special Issue on Transitional Justice and Historical Dialogue. Both theoretical perspectives and views from the field are welcome. The intention is to look at achievements and shortcomings of transitional justice to date. Also, this issue seeks articles which expand the analysis of these processes to include grassroots initiatives, non-formal mechanisms, and specific examples of historical dialogue initiatives.

Societies around the world struggle with how to address historical injustices and contested historical narratives arising from past conflicts. Transitional justice has developed into a set of mechanisms through which a society seeks ways to respond to past violations. However, both scholars and practitioners (lawyers and human rights activists) emphasize that post-conflict reconciliation is sensitive, complex and gradual process that calls for different actors and approaches.

There is an ongoing debate about lessons learned, including discussions about missed opportunities and ignored processes. A continuous challenge is how to organize transitional justice and historical dialogue mechanisms to adequately respond to human rights violations (bringing justice and reparations to victims, prosecuting perpetrators) while contributing to the processes of social reconciliation. Some mechanisms that are crucial for long-term reconciliation process actually can make this very process more difficult (or even impossible) in short-term.

We welcome articles that address the topic of transitional justice and historical dialogue from one or more of the following thematic angles. Please note that these are only suggestions and not an exhaustive list of possible topics:

* Criminal prosecutions, right to truth, and reconciliation (assessing dynamic, and perhaps conflictual, relations between processes of reconciliation and criminal prosecutions both in short- and long-term perspectives
* Judicial response to right to truth
* Truth commissions (which/how social processes lead to creation of the commissions, or dissemination and social response to reports and activities of the commissions)
* Reparation programs
* Dynamics between institutional reforms and social changes
* Memorialization (with a focus on how memorialization contributes to social debate, examples of contested memorialization efforts are especially welcome)
* Dealing with the past through non-formal and grassroots initiatives
* Historical commissions and their impact on social reconciliation

Articles that develop theoretical arguments or offer strong empirical evidence as either comparative or single-case studies are welcome. All selected articles are subject to double-blind refereeing by at least two reviewers. Articles should be sent tocirr@irmo.hr. Please consult the Instructions for authors (http://cirr.irmo.hr/en/instructions-for-authors/) before submitting an article or book review.

Articles are accepted until 30 May 2015.

For further inquiry, please write to the editorial board at cirr@irmo.hr or visit http://cirr.irmo.hr/en/