
Transitional Justice and Bystanders
A Critical Approach to Moral Responsibility
Sanja Pesek(Author)
Edward Elgar Publishing
Will be published approx. on 28. September 2026
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-1-0353-9480-7 (ISBN)
Description
In Transitional Justice and Bystanders: A Critical Approach to Moral Responsibility, Sanja Pesek examines the moral landscape of complicity during a time marked by state-sponsored violence and its aftermath. Moving beyond traditional ideas of guilt and innocence, the book redefines bystanders not just as passive witnesses but as active participants in maintaining injustice. It shows how ordinary citizens become ethically involved in mass violence, from the initial moral decline to later stages characterized by denial and silence and highlights the moral framework of 'perverted group ethics' that transforms civic belonging into complicity.
Breaking new theoretical ground, the study develops the concept of the criminal social contract to describe how authoritarian and populist regimes recode universal moral norms into group-exclusive ideologies. Drawing on normative ethics, political theory, and international criminal jurisprudence, the book expands existing taxonomies of bystanderhood by introducing new categories, such as unethical adversaries and transitional bystanders, that reveal the complex continuum between participation and denial. Through this lens, shared moral responsibility emerges as the most effective model for understanding complicity in modern populist criminal regimes. Ultimately, Transitional Justice and Bystanders argues that transitional justice cannot succeed without confronting the collective moral failures that persist long after the guns fall silent. It envisions a transformative, diachronic moral framework capable of regenerating equality and accountability in post-atrocity societies.
Transitional Justice and Bystanders is an essential resource for scholars and students of law, transitional justice, genocide studies, and political science. Human rights lawyers and peace campaigners will similarly benefit from its innovative approach to post-atrocity environments.
Breaking new theoretical ground, the study develops the concept of the criminal social contract to describe how authoritarian and populist regimes recode universal moral norms into group-exclusive ideologies. Drawing on normative ethics, political theory, and international criminal jurisprudence, the book expands existing taxonomies of bystanderhood by introducing new categories, such as unethical adversaries and transitional bystanders, that reveal the complex continuum between participation and denial. Through this lens, shared moral responsibility emerges as the most effective model for understanding complicity in modern populist criminal regimes. Ultimately, Transitional Justice and Bystanders argues that transitional justice cannot succeed without confronting the collective moral failures that persist long after the guns fall silent. It envisions a transformative, diachronic moral framework capable of regenerating equality and accountability in post-atrocity societies.
Transitional Justice and Bystanders is an essential resource for scholars and students of law, transitional justice, genocide studies, and political science. Human rights lawyers and peace campaigners will similarly benefit from its innovative approach to post-atrocity environments.
Reviews / Votes
'In focus of Sanja Pesek's brilliant analysis is the human condition after mass crime. Her exploration of bystanders demonstrates that in the land of perpetrators no one is free from history. This contention raises the question of collective responsibility, which Pesek addresses in a manner both original and persuasive.' -- Nenad Dimitrijevic, formerly of Central European University, Hungary and Austria 'Sanja Pesek has written a courageous and unsettling book. In the aftermath of atrocity, she turns her unflinching gaze not only on Serbian and German bystanders, but also on herself, insisting on the necessity of both collective and personal reckoning. Her questions are direct and unsparing: why did we go along to get along? Why did we collude? When bystanders protest their innocence, she withholds easy absolution, pressing instead for sustained moral reflection. I take my hat off to Pesek for her erudition and conviction. She asks tough questions that need to be asked.' -- Mark A. Drumbl, Washington and Lee University, USAMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-9480-7 (9781035394807)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Sanja Pesek, Professorial Lecturer, Department of Justice, Law, Criminology and Security, School of Public Affairs, American University, Washington D.C., USA