Trying just enough or promising too much? The problem-capacity-nexus in Tunisia’s transitional justice process
We cordially invite you to the next session of our workshop series on Authoritarian Politics and International Relations at WZB! Mariam Salehi will talk about Tunisia’s transitional justice process and the problem-capacity-nexus. According to scholars and practitioners, transitional justice should foster trust in the state and a holistic approach would be the most promising avenue to achieve that goal. However, in order to foster trust, commitments need to be credible. In post-authoritarian Tunisia, a holistic transitional justice project was introduced with strong international support. Mariam Salehi’s paper shows for this context how the objective of pursuing as much justice as possible proved to conflict with the objective of fostering trust in the state as it democratized. Commitments of the ambitious transitional justice project were not credible, since even key actors in the process perceived goals to be unachievable. While the transitional justice efforts addressed relevant problems and corresponded to the capacities of international professionals, they did not correspond to the capacities of institutions in the transitional state.
Should you be interested in the paper, please contact the organizers of the APIR seminar.
The seminar series aims at bringing together scholars from Comparative Politics and International Relations. We invite papers combining comparative authoritarianism and IR, as well as contributions that help clarify important theoretical concepts and empirical patterns in either discipline. Colleagues interested in presenting in the workshop series should email Alex Tokhi (alexandros.tokhi [at] wzb.eu) or Alex Schmotz (alexander.schmotz [at] wzb.eu).
When: Once a month on a Tuesday afternoon (see dates below)
Where: WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Reichpietschufer 50, 10785 Berlin, Room A305
What: A classic format: 90 minute research seminar with one paper presentation (15 min), one discussant (10), and plenty of time for Q&A
Who: All scholars from WZB and the Berlin area and anyone interested in authoritarian politics and/or international relations
You can find an overview of the next sessions here.
Organized by Alexandros Tokhi (Department of Global Governance) and Alexander Schmotz (Department of Democracy & Democratisation)