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Download The OVERCOMING INTRACTABILITY: IDENTITY AND INTERGROUP RECONCILIATION IN TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE by Nevin Thomas Aiken B.A. Hons, The University of Western Ontario, 2003 M.A., The University of Western Ontario, 2004 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FUFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Political Science) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July 2010 © Nevin Thomas Aiken 2010 Abstract Drawing upon an interdisciplinary synthesis of literature from political science, social psychology, and peace and conflict studies, this dissertation seeks to construct a theoretical framework capable of tracing the complex linkages between identity, transitional justice, and intergroup reconciliation in the post-conflict environments of deeply divided societies. An innovative ‘social learning’ model of this complex interrelationship is introduced, one which suggests that transitional justice strategies will be most successful in promoting intergroup reconciliation to the degree that they are able to catalyze crucial processes of instrumental, socioemotional, and distributive learning amongst former antagonists by promoting contact, dialogue, truth, justice, and the amelioration of structural and material inequalities – all factors identified in existing scholarship as necessary, if not sufficient, conditions for post-conflict reconciliation in divided societies. Employing a methodology of theoretically oriented systematic process analysis, this social learning model is tested through a critical examination of the very different transitional justice approaches adopted in South Africa and Northern Ireland. In South Africa, transitional justice centered on the highly regarded Truth and Reconciliation Commission, designed to address apartheid-era abuses committed between black and white South Africans. In Northern Ireland, a much more ‘decentralized’ approach has combined discrete government programs with an array of ‘bottom-up’ civil society initiatives to deal with the legacy of violence between Nationalist and Unionist communities committed during the ‘Troubles.’ Through extensive desk research and four months of qualitative field research conducted in 2008 (which included 85 in-depth expert interviews), suggestive evidence is found to support the underlying supposition that, at least in deeply divided societies, the causal relationship between transitional justice and reconciliation remains heavily mediated by the politics of identity. More specifically, in both Northern Ireland and South Africa, the transitional justice strategies employed appear to have been successful in contributing to post-conflict reconciliation to the extent to which they have been able to successfully promote a combination of the instrumental, socioemotional, and distributive forms of learning identified in the theoretical model. This study concludes by considering the policy implications of this analysis for ‘best practices’ in the design of future transitional justice strategies in deeply divided societies. ii Table of Contents Abstract.............................................................................................................................ii Table of Contents.......................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ..................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements........................................................................................................vi Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………..vii Chapter I Introduction: Identity, Reconciliation, and Transitional Justice.................................................1 A Social Learning Model of Transitional Justice ......................................................................... 5 The Structure of the Study: Research Design and Methodology ............................................. 9 Chapter II: Building Theory and Deriving Predictions .........................................................12 Chapters III and IV: The Case Studies of Northern Ireland and South Africa ...............14 Making Structured and Focused Observations......................................................................17 Chapter V: Drawing Conclusions..............................................................................................23 Chapter II Theoretical Framework: A Social Learning Model of Transitional Justice ................................................ 25 The Politics of Identity.................................................................................................................... 26 Intergroup Reconciliation……………………………………………………………………………..44 Transitional Justice and the Politics of Identity........................................................................ 53 Social Learning and Transitional Justice..................................................................................... 64 Instrumental Learning .................................................................................................................... 68 Positive Intergroup Contact ..................................................................................................69 Transformative Dialogue.......................................................................................................74 Distributive Learning ...................................................................................................................... 79 The Amelioration of Structural and Material Inequalities..............................................80 Socioemotional Learning ................................................................................................................ 85 Justice........................................................................................................................................85 Truth..........................................................................................................................................89 Precipitating Conditions................................................................................................................. 95 The Existence of a Negative Peace.......................................................................................95 The Presence of Conducive Elites or Entrepreneurs........................................................96 A Social Learning Model of Transitional Justice ....................................................................... 98 Chapter III Case Study: Decentralized Transitional Justice in Northern Ireland.................................103 The Troubles...............................................................................................................................109 Decentralized Transitional Justice .......................................................................................114 Distributive Learning in Northern Ireland................................................................................117 Distributive Reforms.................................................................................................................123 Restoring Equity and Equality: The Impact on Social Learning and Reconciliation ...129 Socioemotional Learning in Northern Ireland..........................................................................136 Decentralized Efforts to Achieve ‘Truth’ and ‘Justice’ ......................................................141 Victim Acknowledgement and Support............................................................................142 Prisoner Release and Reintegration ..................................................................................148 iii Legal Investigations into the Past......................................................................................154 Civil Society and Local Community Initiatives ...............................................................164 Limits to Socioemotional Learning in Northern Ireland....................................................170 Instrumental Learning in Northern Ireland..............................................................................176 (Re)Building ‘Community Relations’......................................................................................180 Central and Local Government Interventions .................................................................182 Civil Society and Local Community Initiatives ...............................................................184 Effective Community Relations Strategies ...........................................................................186 Educational Initiatives..........................................................................................................194 The Impact of Community Relations Work on Instrumental Learning..........................200 Conclusion: Decentralized Transitional Justice and Intergroup Reconciliation .....................................204 Chapter IV Case Study: The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission............................214 The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission ...................................................220 Overcoming Intractability in South Africa................................................................................228 Instrumental Learning and the South African TRC ................................................................234
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