Governing the Past: 'Never Again' and the Transitional Justice Project

by Maja Davidovic

Overview

The way we govern the past to ensure peaceful futures keeps conflict anxieties alive. In pursuit of its own survival, permanence and legitimacy, the project of transitional justice, designed to put the 'Never Again' promise into practice, makes communities that ought to benefit from it anxious about potential repetition of conflict. This book challenges the benevolence of this human rights-led global project. It invites readers to reflect on the incompatibility between transitional justice and the grand goal of ensuring peace, and to imagine alternative and ungovernable futures. Rich in stories from the field, the author draws on personal experiences of conflict and transition in the former Yugoslavia to explore how different elements of transitional justice have changed the structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighbouring societies over the years. This powerful study is essential reading for students, scholars and practitioners interested in human rights and durable international peace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009583930
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/07/2025
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 1.50(h) x 9.50(d)

About the Author

Maja Davidović is Senior Lecturer in International Relations in the School of Law and Politics at Cardiff University. She has won the Open Society Foundations Civil Society Scholar Award and been awarded a British Academy Small Grant.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: urgencies of the past and the future; 2. The promise of non-recurrence: on governing uncertainty and transitional justice as a structure; 3. Peace and justice hand-in-hand: global transitional justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina; 4. 'If we do not talk about these issues now…': fragmented truths and the negotiation of biographical narratives; 5. 'Actively preparing children for new conflicts': competing histories and education for (Non-)recurrence; 6. 'My landlord, a war criminal!': glorification, denial, and troubled relationships with one's past self; 7. Agency amid anxiety; 8. Conclusion: the never-ending promise; Appendix A; Index.