Dealing with Political Violence in Conflicted Democracies: Transitional Justice in Lebanon and Kenya from a Comparative Perspective

Transitional Justice (TJ) has expanded beyond its original framework from the late 1980s, when it was centred on transitions to democracy, becoming a global norm inserted in varied contexts, especially since the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) – the symbol of its normalisatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Penachioni, Julia Battistuzzi
Contributors: Buckley-Zistel, Susanne (Dr.) (Thesis advisor)
Format: Doctoral Thesis
Language:English
Published: Philipps-Universität Marburg 2023
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Summary:Transitional Justice (TJ) has expanded beyond its original framework from the late 1980s, when it was centred on transitions to democracy, becoming a global norm inserted in varied contexts, especially since the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) – the symbol of its normalisation. The localisation of TJ in a contemporary context comes with an increasingly common scenario of political instability and violence within electoral democracies. Taking case studies as a research strategy, this thesis first explores the exemplary events of political violence in Lebanon (the politically motivated assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005) and Kenya (the 2007/2008 post-electoral violence), which were followed by TJ in the form of international criminal justice: the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the International Criminal Court. The two countries, although very different, can be classified as conflicted democracies, which characteristics provide valuable insights concerning TJ in plural societies. Through a comparative perspective, this thesis analyses how TJ shapes political dynamics within conflicted democracies and the effects of those dynamics on the political stability.
DOI:10.17192/z2023.0519