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" Exploring transitional justice in democratic states : "
Berastegi, Amaia Alvarez
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Latin Dissertation
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| Record Number
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1101256
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TLets686436
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| Main Entry
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Berastegi, Amaia Alvarez
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| Title & Author
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Exploring transitional justice in democratic states :\ Berastegi, Amaia Alvarez
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| College
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Ulster University
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| Date
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2016
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| student score
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2016
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Abstract
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In both Northern Ireland and the Basque Country, the debates on how to define victimsof political violence mirror the debates on how we understand the past; whether we seethe past as a political conflict or a problem of terrorism. This thesis investigates therelationship between these debates and transitions from conflict to peace withindemocratic states (ie the under-explored type of intra-democratic transitions). Specificallyit asks "What is the relationship between transitional justice processes that take place indemocratic states and the debates on how to define victims in Northern Ireland and theBasque Country"? Employing comparative, socio-legal and qualitative methods, thestudy analyses the debates on victims using a transitional justice framework; it is the firstcomparative examination of these two case studies using a transitional justice framework.The research found that, despite the existing controversies and hierarchies, NorthernIreland and the Basque Country have moved towards a more inclusive definition incontrast to Spain. The thesis argues that the transitional framework itself is related to theinclusive definition of victims, ie, the expansion of the definitions in Northern Ireland andthe Basque Country is explained by a correlation between the definitions and the processof transition. Connected with this is the role of different narratives; the rejection of anofficial peace process and the adoption of a less inclusive definition of victims correlateswith the adoption of a counterterrorist narrative in Spain; while in Northern Ireland andthe Basque Country, the more inclusive definitions arise in the context of more complex,admittedly still contested narratives of conflict, terrorism and human rights violations.On a theoretical level, this PhD contributes to the field of transitional justice by studyingone especially complex aspect of intra-democratic transitions, the contestation overvictimhood. The study shows how there are various ways by which to frame transitionaljustice in democratic states (states dealing with historical abuses and states dealing withthe legacy of a paradigmatic transitions, for instance) and adds two situations in whichtransitional justice applies: intra-democratic transitions, where transitional justicemechanisms are implemented in correlation with a transition; and the implementation oftransitional justice mechanisms in the context of counter-terrorist policies. The thesisexplores how the discourse of transitional justice is expanding to new realms andconcludes by identifying future lines of research opened by this expansion.
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Ulster University
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