Truth Commissions and State Building

Reviews / Votes

"While there are a few books on transitional justice, broadly construed, and others focusing on Africa, this volume's framing is entirely unique and its discussion of outcomes and legacies, essential." Aderomola Adeola, co-editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Democracy, Governance and Justice in Africa "This is the first time I have seen an effort to develop sustained and systematic investigation of how truth commissions operate as state building tools. The book will be of great interest to those studying transitional justice, as well as African politics, memory politics, and legal pluralism." Bronwyn Leebaw, author of Judging State-Sponsored Violence, Imagining Political Change "Original and noteworthy. Nelson Mandela and the Archbishop Tutu may be the face of truth commissions globally, but Truth Commissions and State Building travels from Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and The Gambia to Canada [to] tackle concerns about justice, civic participation, gendered violence, and the voluminous archives created by such commissions while making the case for iterative evaluations of these efforts to build states and nations in the wake of trauma." African Studies Review 2024 Best Africa-Focused Anthology or Edited Collection Prize Jury "More than 50 state-sponsored or civil society-led truth commissions were established by 2023. They seek restorative justice in the face of prior widespread human rights abuses. This collection's 16 chapters move from theoretical engagements to methods and process to documents and archives, concluding with outcomes and legacies. Recommended." Choice "The year 2024 is significant for elections around the world, including on the African continent. Given this, the insights of Truth Commissions and State Building, particularly the chapters that probe civic inclusion, identity formation, and institutional reform, could not have come at a better time." H-Diplo