Transitional justice processes have a fundamental public dimension. Their impact depends in part on the social support they receive. For this reason, transitional justice bodies have increasingly implemented outreach programs. Beyond the role of outreach, however, other initiatives-such as media and cultural interventions-can strengthen, but also in some cases undermine, the public resonance of transitional justice. How can media and art be used to engage society in discussions about accountability and redress? How do media influence social perceptions and attitudes toward the legacy of the past? To what extent is social engagement in the public sphere necessary to advance the political transformation that transitional justice measures try to promote? Examining the roles that society and culture play in transitional justice contexts, the essays in this volume focus on the ways in which communicative practices can raise public awareness of and reflection on the legacies of mass abuse.

About the Author
Clara Ramirez-Barat is a senior associate in the Research Unit at ICTJ. She is the recipient of an MA in philosophy from Columbia University and a PhD in philosophy from the University Carlos III of Madrid. For the past ten years, her research has focused on different aspects of transitional justice and democratic theory.

Reviews
The book addresses a long-standing gap in transitional justice between institutional interventions and the need to recognize and support the mechanisms of human interaction-what happens between people and between communities and the structures established to maintain them. This unique collection of essays addresses the breadth of communicative mechanisms-from traditional media to new media and from art to film to photography to literature. The beautifully crafted chapters bring alive the multidimensional nature of social engagement and describe how these societal processes can maim and destroy as well as contribute to survival and healing. This collection is the first in the transitional justice literature to recognize the need to move beyond top-down 'outreach' programs to support two-way communication in its multiple forms and to recognize that societies rebuild by utilizing social, psychological, historical, and cultural pathways that strengthen their commitment to change. The strength of this book lies in its attention to multiple forms of creation and its appreciation of societal energies in responding to the past and addressing the future. -- Harvey M. Weinstein, Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley The contributors examine various forms of outreach attempted after a transition-from official press releases to participatory theater to Sesame Street-to sort through what has and has not worked and why. Together, these pieces make a powerful argument that efforts to deal with the past will fail unless they are connected to society. -- Tina Rosenberg, author of The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism



Book Information
ISBN 9780911400021
Author Clara Ramirez-barat
Format Paperback
Page Count 560
Imprint Social Science Research Council
Publisher Social Science Research Council
Weight(grams) 832g
Dimensions(mm) 233mm * 152mm * 41mm