Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM152: Post-Conflict Human Rights and Transitional Justice

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

Module Aims

The module aims to provide a conceptual and analytical framework with which to understand the link between peace building and human rights in post-conflict contexts, primarily through developing a critical understanding of transitional justice. you will develop a strong theoretical and conceptual understanding of transitional justice, including its different elements such as truth seeking, justice, accountability and non-recurrence. Drawing from an array of inter-disciplinary literature, you will critically evaluate the different approaches to transitional justice and assess its role vis-à-vis strengthening human rights and peace building in the aftermath of armed conflict.  You will strengthen your understanding of the practicalities of transitional justice in post-conflict contexts through engagement with selected empirical case studies from different regions and innovative teaching, including multi-media and direct engagement with field experts. The course offers an opportunity to understand post-conflict dynamics, and to assess the legitimacy and effectiveness of transitional justice.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate conceptual and theoretical understanding of transitional justice with capability to critically evaluate the effectiveness of its varying approaches.
2. Demonstrate critical understanding of the peace-rights-justice nexus in post-conflict contexts and the role of transitional justice in these contexts.
3. Differentiate between theoretical analysis and the practical realities of transitional justice, through a focus on specific case studies,.
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Demonstrate advanced analytical understanding of the significance of issues of transitional justice and human rights within peace and conflict studies.
5. Develop a critical understanding of the field of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction, including the role of international actors.
Personal and Key Skills6. Independently research, critically evaluate and analyse inter-disciplinary literature.
7. Make rigorous and persuasive arguments and convey them coherently, analytically and convincingly verbally and in writing.
8. Develop policy analysis skills through combining academic and theoretical work with case studies and expert interviews.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Basic reading:

 

Chandra Lekha Sriram, Confronting Past Human Rights Violations: Justice v. Peace in Times of Transition, London and New York: Frank Cass, 2004.

 

 

Henry J Steiner, Philip Alston, and Ryan Goodman, International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals, Third Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007.

 

Michael Goodhart (ed.), Human Rights: Politics and Practice, Oxford University Press, 2009.

 

Joanna Quinn, Reconciliation(s): Transitional Justice in Postconflict Societies, Montreal and Kingston: McGillQueen’s University Press, 2009.

 

Pablo de Grieff, ‘Theorizing Transitional Justice’. In Transitional Justice, Nomos, Volume L. Edited by Melissa Williams, Rosemary Nagy, and Jon Elster, New York, NY: New York University Press, 2012. 

 

Priscilla Hayner, Unspeakable Truths: Confronting State Atrocity and Terror, Routledge, 2001.

 

Paul Gready and Simon Robins. ‘From Transitional Justice to Transformative Justice: a New Agenda in Practice’, The International Journal for Transitional Justice 8, no. 3, 2014.

 

Kirsten Ainley, Rebekka Friedman, and Chris Mahony, eds, Evaluating Transitional Justice: Accountability and Peacebuilding in PostConflict Sierra Leone, Palgrave, 2015.

 

Roht-Arriaza, Naomi and Javier Mariezcurrena (eds), Transitional Justice in the Twenty-First Century: Beyond Truth versus Justice, Cornel University Press, 2006.

 

United Nations. ‘What is Transitional Justice? A Backgrounder’. (February 20, 2008), available at: http://www.un.org/en/peacebuilding/pdf/doc_wgll/justice_times_transition/26_02_2008_backgrou nd_note.pdf.