Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Transitional Justice and Colonial History in Liberal Democracies
2.1. Can Transitional Justice Deal with a Legacy of Violations from Colonial Rule?
2.2. An Expansion Already Underway
2.3. Theorizing Transitional Justice in Liberal Democracies
3. Three Challenges to Transitional Justice in Liberal Democracies
3.1. The Doctrine of Intertemporal Law
Views diverge about whether it is good or bad to criminalize actions that were repugnant, but not crimes when they were committed. However, one thing is clear: the Nuremberg trials demonstrate that the international community, represented by the big powers, can rewrite existing rules to punish past wrongs. It has been done’.
3.2. Double Standards: Prioritizing Transitional Justice in the Global South
Reducing the problem of ‘reworking the past’ to National Socialism and Stalinism runs the risk of evading the issue of shared European accountability for the past. When talking about European historical memory, one also needs to address the question whether responsibility for atrocities and injustice committed might not also partly be ‘European’.
3.3. National Identity
4. By Way of Conclusion: Can These Challenges Be Overcome?
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
1 | The topic was the focus of the report by Fabian Salvioli, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, submitted to the General Assembly in 2021 (United Nations General Assembly 2021). |
2 | |
3 | According to the law passed on 6 November 2018, the commission’s new mandate was not only extended four years, but also extended to investigate and establish the truth about “serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed between 26 February 1885 and 4 December 2008”, in particular to establish “individual responsibilities and those of state institutions, legal persons and private groups” and to “determine the role of the colonizing powers in the cyclical violence that has afflicted Burundi”. Loi N°1/022 du 6 Novembre 2018, portant modification de la Loi N°1/18 du 15 Mai 2014, Droit, Pouvoir et Paix au Burundi, Article 6. Available at: http://www.cvr.bi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/CVR-Loi-du-6-Novembre-2018-vraie-version_compressed.pdf (accessed on 7 June 2023). |
4 | This is, at the time of writing, particularly relevant in the context of Pope Francis’ visit to Canada and his agreement with the use of the word “genocide” to describe the Residential School system. Deer, Ka’nhehsí:io, “Pope says genocide took place at Canada’s residential schools,” CBC News, 30 July 2022. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/pope-francis-residential-schools-genocide-1.6537203 (accessed on 7 June 2023). |
5 | Indeed, the trade of human beings and the commodities that they produced through forced labor was deeply entwined with the history of colonialism, with constant territorial expansion and involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade key features in the country’s political, economic, and social history (accessed on 7 June 2023). |
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Fernandez-Torne, C.; Young, G. Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives. Soc. Sci. 2023, 12, 438. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080438
Fernandez-Torne C, Young G. Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives. Social Sciences. 2023; 12(8):438. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080438
Chicago/Turabian StyleFernandez-Torne, Carles, and Graeme Young. 2023. "Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives" Social Sciences 12, no. 8: 438. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080438
APA StyleFernandez-Torne, C., & Young, G. (2023). Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives. Social Sciences, 12(8), 438. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080438