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Title
'Traditional' justice? - The role of traditional authority in traditional justice mechanisms in post-conflict Sierra Leone |
Full text
http://rudar.ruc.dk/handle/1800/8996 |
Date
2012 |
Author(s)
Meesenburg, Anna Welin; Dolberg, Lisbeth Carstensen |
Contributor(s)
Prag, Ebbe |
Abstract
The research field of this present thesis is the intersection between traditional authorities and traditional justice mechanisms in the context of post-conflict Sierra Leone. With an increase in civil wars in past decades, questions of how to deal with issues of post-conflict justice and reconciliation have moved to the forefront of the international development agenda. In recent years this field, known as transitional justice, has begun to move away from standardised approaches towards an increasing demand for contextually appropriate solutions, which take the cultures and traditions of the specific country into consideration. Generally termed 'traditional justice mechanisms', such approaches, which include a range of local practices from more or less formalised customary law to spiritual and religious justice and conciliatory practices, have thus generated much initial enthusiasm. Recently, however, such mechanisms have also been subject to some critique, especially regarding the structures that they rely upon. In the West African country of Sierra Leone, traditional justice mechanisms have been known to rest on the authority of 'traditional' leaders such as local chiefs and leaders of secret societies, whose alleged exploitative exercise of authority was argued to be one of the root causes of a 'crisis of youth', which in turn has been seen as one of the underlying causes of the war. The question of this thesis is thus whether the use of traditional justice mechanisms in post-conflict Sierra Leone risks re-enforcing such structures of authority. In addressing this subject, the study employs a desk-top case study of the work on 'traditional' reconciliation in rural Sierra Leone by the International NGO Fambul Tok. The case-study is nested in a review of the literature on traditional justice mechanisms and transitional reconciliation. Through this review, the thesis has sought to first place the case within the theoretical field and the context of Sierra Leone and secondly to contribute to the development of the emerging field of literature on traditional justice mechanisms. Moreover, the thesis draws on contextual studies addressing the root causes of the war and the post-conflict context as well as theoretical discussions on the concepts of 'public authority' and 'local arena' as coined by Christian Lund and J.P. Olivier de Sardan, respectively. The latter concepts are employed to discuss how traditional authorities are able to exercise authority and through which processes they come to be viewed as legitimate. In conclusion the thesis argues that Fambul Tok relies on traditional authorities in the implementation of its programme and that it in some regards contributes to the reproduction and reinforcement of some of the marginalising structures that arguably were a root cause of the war. It is further argued that the literature has been overtly focused on judicial aspects, and that it has neglected to a)critically look into the reconciliatory and ritualistic aspects of such mechanisms and b) to investigate how such mechanisms relate to wider issues of social justice. Accordingly, we find the following questions relevant to ask in future research: what is the underlying social order when people are being reconciled and community harmony is being 'restored', and who becomes the moral guarantors and upholders of this 'social order' when traditional justice mechanisms are employed? |
Subject(s)
Transitional justice, Traditional justice mechanisms, reconciliation, public authority, Sierra Leone, social justice, traditional institution |
Language
en |
Type of publication
Thesis; IU-studier / International Development Studies - Master thesis |
Repository
Roskilde - Roskilde University Digital Archive (RUDAR)
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Added to C-A: 2014-02-05;14:47:31 |
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