Springer Transitional Justice and Civil Society in the Balkans (Springer Series in Transitional Justice)

This book surveys transitional justice in the Balkans, focusing on the unexplored and under-researched role of civil society groups and local women’s groups, of art and community media and other grass-roots transitional justice mechanisms and initiatives. Review From the reviews: “This is a very useful contribution both in summarizing the transitional justice experience in the Balkan region … and in highlighting the role that civil society can play in a transitional justice process. This collection would be useful not only for students and scholars of both transitional justice and Balkan politics but also for practitioners working in peace-building and conflict prevention. … this volume takes us one step closer to understanding both the contributions of and the limitations on civil society’s involvement in transitional justice.” (Julie Broome, Southeastern Europe, Vol. 37 (2), 2013) "I recommend this book to scholars unfamiliar with the processes of transitional justice in the Balkans. Even scholars and stakeholders who are already familiar with those processes in the Balkans will find some chapters enlightening because the book raises very important issues which need to be addressed by civil societies that are yet to deal with the past human rights violations. Further, the book highlights not only the need for different transitional justice mechanisms to be complementary (as it is brilliantly exemplified by Tamara Banjeglav in her case study about Croatia), but also for the government and non-government actors to work together. This volume significantly contributes to the existing transitional justice literature covering both ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom up’ processes of transitional justice and of civil society involvement in the Balkans." (Jasmina Kijevcanin, Dialogues on Historical Justice and Memory Research Network, http://historicaldialogues.org/2013/08/26/book-review-transitional-justice-and-civil-society-in-the-balkans/) From the Back Cover Transitional Justice and Civil Society in the Balkans covers civil society engagements with transitional justice processes in the Balkans. The Balkans, whose physical geography is generally considered to be the former Yugoslavia, as well as Albania, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, is a region marked by the post-communist and post-conflict transitional turmoil in which its countries are entangled. With contributions coming from localized and international scholars, this volume provide a comprehensive look at the research in transitional justice in this part of the world, Transitional justice is an ever-growing field which responds to dilemmas over how successor regimes should deal with past human rights abuses of their authoritarian predecessors. This volume explores the ways in which civil society―lay citizens who participate in government and non-government organization without seeking monetary compensation―affect and drive the transitional justice process. The editors and author emphasize the relatively unexplored and under-researched role of civil society groups and social movements, such as local women’s groups, the role of art and community media and other grass-roots transitional justice mechanisms and initiatives, in the Balkans’ movement towards making peace with the past.    Through specific case-studies, the unique contribution of Transitional Justice and Civil Society in the Balkans is not only that it covers a part of the world that is not adequately represented in the transitional justice field, but also that it is one of the first projects originally researched and written by experts and scholars from the region or in collaboration with international scholars.  By taking a more critical look at national strategies, local practices and priorities, and by closely examining international transitional justice agendas, the authors explore the complex and unpredictable justice processes currently underway in the Balkans. They sug