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Truth Commissions and State Building |
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Investigating how truth commissions operate as state-building tools.
More than just an opportunity to uncover fact after conflict, truth commissions can also offer restorative power to nations across the globe. Truth Commissions and State Building presents the first comparative study of the role of its kind, illuminating these possibilities.
Examining truth commissions as mechanisms for civic inclusion, identity formation, institutional reform, and nation (re)building in post-conflict and post-authoritarian societies, the book shifts attention towards institutional innovation in African countries, where approximately a third of all commissions have been established. Contributors explore the mandates, methods, outcomes, and legacies of truth commissions, analyzing their place in transitional and restorative justice. Rather than conceptualizing state building as incidental to their work, they present it as an intrinsic, central component. This flagship volume - authored by a stellar cast of policymakers, practitioners, and scholars - brings multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral perspectives to bear on the complex role of truth commissions in addressing transitional justice, historical injustices, and present-day human rights violations.
As more countries, in both the Global South and the North, adopt this model to address historical and contemporary abuses, the dialogue between different sectors of society modelled here will help inform this process - wherever it might occur.
Examining truth commissions as mechanisms for civic inclusion, identity formation, institutional reform, and nation (re)building in post-conflict and post-authoritarian societies, the book shifts attention towards institutional innovation in African countries, where approximately a third of all commissions have been established. Contributors explore the mandates, methods, outcomes, and legacies of truth commissions, analyzing their place in transitional and restorative justice. Rather than conceptualizing state building as incidental to their work, they present it as an intrinsic, central component. This flagship volume - authored by a stellar cast of policymakers, practitioners, and scholars - brings multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral perspectives to bear on the complex role of truth commissions in addressing transitional justice, historical injustices, and present-day human rights violations.
As more countries, in both the Global South and the North, adopt this model to address historical and contemporary abuses, the dialogue between different sectors of society modelled here will help inform this process - wherever it might occur.
Details
426 Pages, 6 x 9
5 diagrams, 1 table
ISBN 9780228018995
November 2023
Formats: Cloth, Paperback, eBook
“While there are a few books on transitional justice, broadly construed, and others focusing on Africa, this volume’s framing is entirely unique and its discussion of outcomes and legacies, essential.” Aderomola Adeola, co-editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Democracy, Governance and Justice in Africa
“This is the first time I have seen an effort to develop sustained and systematic investigation of how truth commissions operate as state building tools. The book will be of great interest to those studying transitional justice, as well as African politics, memory politics, and legal pluralism.” Bronwyn Leebaw, author of Judging State-Sponsored Violence, Imagining Political Change
“Original and noteworthy. Nelson Mandela and the Archbishop Tutu may be the face of truth commissions globally, but Truth Commissions and State Building travels from Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and The Gambia to Canada [to] tackle concerns about justice, civic participation, gendered violence, and the voluminous archives created by such commissions while making the case for iterative evaluations of these efforts to build states and nations in the wake of trauma.” African Studies Review 2024 Best Africa-Focused Anthology or Edited Collection Prize Jury
"More than 50 state-sponsored or civil society–led truth commissions were established by 2023. They seek restorative justice in the face of prior widespread human rights abuses. This collection's 16 chapters move from theoretical engagements to methods and process to documents and archives, concluding with outcomes and legacies. Recommended." Choice
“The year 2024 is significant for elections around the world, including on the African continent. Given this, the insights of Truth Commissions and State Building, particularly the chapters that probe civic inclusion, identity formation, and institutional reform, could not have come at a better time.” H-Diplo
“This is the first time I have seen an effort to develop sustained and systematic investigation of how truth commissions operate as state building tools. The book will be of great interest to those studying transitional justice, as well as African politics, memory politics, and legal pluralism.” Bronwyn Leebaw, author of Judging State-Sponsored Violence, Imagining Political Change
“Original and noteworthy. Nelson Mandela and the Archbishop Tutu may be the face of truth commissions globally, but Truth Commissions and State Building travels from Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and The Gambia to Canada [to] tackle concerns about justice, civic participation, gendered violence, and the voluminous archives created by such commissions while making the case for iterative evaluations of these efforts to build states and nations in the wake of trauma.” African Studies Review 2024 Best Africa-Focused Anthology or Edited Collection Prize Jury
"More than 50 state-sponsored or civil society–led truth commissions were established by 2023. They seek restorative justice in the face of prior widespread human rights abuses. This collection's 16 chapters move from theoretical engagements to methods and process to documents and archives, concluding with outcomes and legacies. Recommended." Choice
“The year 2024 is significant for elections around the world, including on the African continent. Given this, the insights of Truth Commissions and State Building, particularly the chapters that probe civic inclusion, identity formation, and institutional reform, could not have come at a better time.” H-Diplo
Bonny Ibhawoh is professor of history and Senator William McMaster Chair in Global Human Rights at McMaster University.
Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno is associate professor of political science and vice-dean of the Faculty of Communication and Cultural Studies at the University for Development Studies, Ghana.
Sylvia Bawa is associate professor of sociology at York University.
Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno is associate professor of political science and vice-dean of the Faculty of Communication and Cultural Studies at the University for Development Studies, Ghana.
Sylvia Bawa is associate professor of sociology at York University.
Table and Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction: Truth Commissions and the Politics of State Building 3
Bonny Ibhawoh, Sylvia Bawa, and Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno
Section One: Conceptual and Theoretical Engagements
1 Truth Commissions, Civic Participation, and State Building 35
Jennifer Wallace and Bonny Ibhawoh
2 Truth-Seeking Processes as Redress for Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence 58
Jean de Dieu Sikulibo
3 The African Human Rights and Transitional Justice Architecture: An Analytical Outline 75
Obiora C. Okafor and Uchechukwu Ngwaba
4 Decolonization, Gender, and Transitional Justice in Post-Colonial Africa 99
Sylvia Bawa
Section Two: Methods and Processes
5 Whites and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission 121
Roger Southall
6 Truth, Reconciliation, and Peace: Building a National Infrastructure for Peace in Sierra Leone 143
Teddy Foday-Musa
7 Truth, Justice, and National Reconciliation: The Dilemmas of Transitional Justice in Burkina Faso 163
Aboubacar Dakuyo
8 Mali’s Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission: Truth Seeking and Peacebuilding across Borders 186
Janine Lespérance
9 Post-Authoritarianism, Truth Seeking, and the Judicial Accountability Gap: Lessons from Nigeria 208
Hakeem Yusuf
Section Three: Documents and Archives
10 TRCs and the Archival Imperative 239
Abena Ampofoa Asare
11 Nation and Narration: Creative Imaginaries of Truth and Reconciliation 256
Paul Ugor
12 The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Access to its Documentation 281
Proscovia Svärd
13 The Gambian TRRC: Toward a “Comprehensive Model” of Truth Commissions 295
Baba G. Jallow
Section Four: Outcomes and Legacies
14 Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission: A Retrospective 315
Robert K. Ame and Seidu M. Alidu
15 The Long-Term Legacies of Transitional Justice: Understanding the Paradox of Peace in Sierra Leone 341
Gearoid Millar
16 Rebuilding Social Cohesion in Post-Genocide Rwanda 358
Jean Nepo Ndahimana
Conclusion: Assessing Truth Commission Impacts and Legacies 373
Bonny Ibhawoh
Contributors 379
Index 387
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction: Truth Commissions and the Politics of State Building 3
Bonny Ibhawoh, Sylvia Bawa, and Jasper Abembia Ayelazuno
Section One: Conceptual and Theoretical Engagements
1 Truth Commissions, Civic Participation, and State Building 35
Jennifer Wallace and Bonny Ibhawoh
2 Truth-Seeking Processes as Redress for Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence 58
Jean de Dieu Sikulibo
3 The African Human Rights and Transitional Justice Architecture: An Analytical Outline 75
Obiora C. Okafor and Uchechukwu Ngwaba
4 Decolonization, Gender, and Transitional Justice in Post-Colonial Africa 99
Sylvia Bawa
Section Two: Methods and Processes
5 Whites and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission 121
Roger Southall
6 Truth, Reconciliation, and Peace: Building a National Infrastructure for Peace in Sierra Leone 143
Teddy Foday-Musa
7 Truth, Justice, and National Reconciliation: The Dilemmas of Transitional Justice in Burkina Faso 163
Aboubacar Dakuyo
8 Mali’s Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission: Truth Seeking and Peacebuilding across Borders 186
Janine Lespérance
9 Post-Authoritarianism, Truth Seeking, and the Judicial Accountability Gap: Lessons from Nigeria 208
Hakeem Yusuf
Section Three: Documents and Archives
10 TRCs and the Archival Imperative 239
Abena Ampofoa Asare
11 Nation and Narration: Creative Imaginaries of Truth and Reconciliation 256
Paul Ugor
12 The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Access to its Documentation 281
Proscovia Svärd
13 The Gambian TRRC: Toward a “Comprehensive Model” of Truth Commissions 295
Baba G. Jallow
Section Four: Outcomes and Legacies
14 Ghana’s National Reconciliation Commission: A Retrospective 315
Robert K. Ame and Seidu M. Alidu
15 The Long-Term Legacies of Transitional Justice: Understanding the Paradox of Peace in Sierra Leone 341
Gearoid Millar
16 Rebuilding Social Cohesion in Post-Genocide Rwanda 358
Jean Nepo Ndahimana
Conclusion: Assessing Truth Commission Impacts and Legacies 373
Bonny Ibhawoh
Contributors 379
Index 387
Honourable Mention
Best Africa-Focused Anthology or Edited Collection Prize
2024
Best Africa-Focused Anthology or Edited Collection Prize
2024
