PHIL 333 Transitional Justice

When we discuss study and call for 'justice' we often do so in the context of (more or less) stable political institutions. In the contemporary global community we frequently face unstable or non-existent political institutions of the kind assumed in a great deal of our political theory. These transitional contexts often exist in the aftermath of large-scale human rights abuses (such as genocide apartheid and other crimes against humanity). This raises an important question: what constitutes justice in these transitional contexts? This course explores this foundational question through more particular topics such as: the nature and value of truth and reconciliation commissions reparations restorative justice the normative foundations of international criminal law and the nature of evil and atrocity.