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From agency to root causes: addressing structural Barriers to transformative justice in transitional and post-conflict settings

Hoddy, Eric T. LU and Gready, Paul (2020) In Contemporary Social Science 15(5). p.561-576
Abstract
Transformative justice has emerged as a new practice agenda for addressing structural and systemic violence in post-conflict and post-authoritarian societies. This article is situated at a critical juncture: while the emerging scholarship has focussed on community agency and action, there is little as yet that has explored the social structures and relations in transition societies that are harm-generating and which constrain action. We argue that a critical social science, grounded in realist social theory, systems thinking and complexity theory, have a vital role to play in rendering transparent the relations and structures that resist change. New knowledge about the ‘root causes’ of harm is both conceptually innovative and useful to... (More)
Transformative justice has emerged as a new practice agenda for addressing structural and systemic violence in post-conflict and post-authoritarian societies. This article is situated at a critical juncture: while the emerging scholarship has focussed on community agency and action, there is little as yet that has explored the social structures and relations in transition societies that are harm-generating and which constrain action. We argue that a critical social science, grounded in realist social theory, systems thinking and complexity theory, have a vital role to play in rendering transparent the relations and structures that resist change. New knowledge about the ‘root causes’ of harm is both conceptually innovative and useful to practice, helping practitioners identify societal arrangements in need of change and informing strategies for action. This article illustrates the approach through its application to a study with poor farmers in post-Revolution Tunisia. The article should be of interest to researchers and practitioners in transitional and transformative justice, conflict and post-conflict, peacebuilding, and security sector reform, who are engaged with understanding and addressing issues of structural and systemic violence. (Less)
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author
and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Contemporary Social Science
volume
15
issue
5
pages
561 - 576
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85090223793
ISSN
2158-2041
DOI
10.1080/21582041.2020.1812706
project
Developing the research and practice agenda for transformative justice
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
4510cf78-24ff-4b90-82a1-f21bb7251cd5
alternative location
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21582041.2020.1812706
date added to LUP
2021-03-08 14:43:20
date last changed
2022-04-27 00:38:07
@article{4510cf78-24ff-4b90-82a1-f21bb7251cd5,
  abstract     = {{Transformative justice has emerged as a new practice agenda for addressing structural and systemic violence in post-conflict and post-authoritarian societies. This article is situated at a critical juncture: while the emerging scholarship has focussed on community agency and action, there is little as yet that has explored the social structures and relations in transition societies that are harm-generating and which constrain action. We argue that a critical social science, grounded in realist social theory, systems thinking and complexity theory, have a vital role to play in rendering transparent the relations and structures that resist change. New knowledge about the ‘root causes’ of harm is both conceptually innovative and useful to practice, helping practitioners identify societal arrangements in need of change and informing strategies for action. This article illustrates the approach through its application to a study with poor farmers in post-Revolution Tunisia. The article should be of interest to researchers and practitioners in transitional and transformative justice, conflict and post-conflict, peacebuilding, and security sector reform, who are engaged with understanding and addressing issues of structural and systemic violence.}},
  author       = {{Hoddy, Eric T. and Gready, Paul}},
  issn         = {{2158-2041}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{561--576}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Contemporary Social Science}},
  title        = {{From agency to root causes: addressing structural Barriers to transformative justice in transitional and post-conflict settings}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2020.1812706}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/21582041.2020.1812706}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}