Review

"How did, and how should, emerging democracies deal with members and supporters of fallen autocratic or occupation regimes? By fusing analytical approaches with historical perspectives, this fascinating and eminently readable volume addresses an enduring political question in a refreshing way, at once normative, theoretical, and empirical. A must-read."

-Stathis N. Kalyvas, Yale University

"This is a timely and important collection of rigorously argued essays that bring a welcome historical and comparative frame to the study of transitional justice in new democracies. Their nuanced considerations of the moral complexities in intergenerational claims for restitution and rich analyses of how emotions, intentions and beliefs shape trials and sanctions push our understanding of transnational justice to new levels."

-Mark Philip Bradley, Northwestern University

"The most searching and illuminating book available on the promises and disappointments of transitional justice. Elster's introduction and concluding chapters are analytical masterpieces and almost every chapter is a treasure house of information and insight."

-Stephen Holmes, NYU School of Law

"This is a highly enjoyable, analytically rigorous and historically rich collection of essays on a fascinating, timely, and consequential topic. It is an important contribution to the already substantial and growing literature on transitional justice...The chapters in this volume engage the reader in a continuous dialogue between theory and concrete examples, back and forth."

-Julio Rios-Figueroa, NYU School of Law, The Law and Politics Book Review

Product Description

The contributions in this study present a comprehensive analysis of transitional justice from 1945 to the present. They feature a general theoretical analysis of the processes of retribution and reparation as well as case studies by historians and political scientists who discuss the West European transitions after 1945 and more recent Latin American, East European, and South African transitions to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s. The volume's focus is on retribution against the leaders and agents of the autocratic regime preceding the democratic transition, and on reparation to its victims.