Transitional justice and changing memories of the past in Central Europe

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Government and Opposition

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Volume

50

Issue

1

First Page

24

Last Page

44

Abstract

Memories of wrongdoings are often viewed as an obstacle to reconciliation in divided societies. Is it due to the past or the present politics of the past? To examine the dilemma of essentialism versus presentism, this article investigates the impact of transitional justice on memories of wrongdoing. It theorizes that using different transitional justice strategies to deal with the same wrongdoing shapes memories in different ways. The theory is tested via vignette-based surveys in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, which adopted distinct lustration laws. The results show that wrongdoing is viewed through lustration laws, reflecting present power constellations, not history.

DOI

10.1017/gov.2013.37

Print ISSN

0017257X

E-ISSN

14777053

Publisher Statement

Copyright © The Author(s). Published by Government and Opposition Limited and Cambridge University Press 2013

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

David, R. (2015). Transitional justice and changing memories of the past in Central Europe. Government and Opposition, 50(1), 24-44. doi: 10.1017/gov.2013.37

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