Informal Reckonings
Conflict Resolution in Mediation, Restorative Justice, and Reparations
Published on 30. November 2007
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-1-84568-104-3 (ISBN)
Description
The "reparational turn" in the field of law has resulted in the increased use of so-called "informal" approaches to conflict resolution, including primarily the three mechanisms we will consider in this book: mediation, restorative justice, and reparations. While proponents of these mechanisms have acclaimed their communicative and democratic promise, critics have charged that mediation, restorative justice and reparations all potentially serve as means for encouraging citizens to internalise and mimic the rationalities of governance. Indeed, the critics suggest that informal justice's supposed oppositional relationship to formal justice is, at base, a mutually reinforcing one, in which each system relies on the other for its effective operation, rather than the two being locked in a struggle for dominance. Our intention is to contribute to the discussion of the confluence of informal and formal justice by providing a clearer picture of the justice 'field' through our notion of the "informal/formal justice complex."
This term, adapted from Garland and Sparks (2000: 199), describes a cultural formation in which adversarial/punitive and conciliatory/restorative justice forms coexist in relative harmony despite their apparent contradictions. Situating this complex within the context of neoliberalism, we intend to identify the points of rupture in the informal/formal justice complex to pinpoint how and where a truly alternative and "transformative" justice (i.e., a justice that challenges and counters the hegemony of formal legal practices, opening the field of law to a broader array of actors and ideas) might be established through the tools of mediation, restorative justice, and reparations.
This term, adapted from Garland and Sparks (2000: 199), describes a cultural formation in which adversarial/punitive and conciliatory/restorative justice forms coexist in relative harmony despite their apparent contradictions. Situating this complex within the context of neoliberalism, we intend to identify the points of rupture in the informal/formal justice complex to pinpoint how and where a truly alternative and "transformative" justice (i.e., a justice that challenges and counters the hegemony of formal legal practices, opening the field of law to a broader array of actors and ideas) might be established through the tools of mediation, restorative justice, and reparations.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
Width: 150 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84568-104-3 (9781845681043)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Andrew Woolford, Department of Sociology, University of Manitoba & R.S. Ratner.
Content
Chapter 1: Formal and Informal Justice: What is 'formal' justice?; The critique of 'formal' justice; The Reparational Turn: emerging visions of 'informal' justice; The Informal/Formal Justice Complex; Justice: the grand illusion?; Chapter 2: Resolving Conflict in a Changing World: Understanding Transformations in the Juridical Field; Neoliberalism and governmentality; Communicative and instrumental forms of informal justice; Changing historical contexts and changing justice practices; The Quest for Redemption (Perpetrators and Victims); Chapter 3: Mediation as 'Informal Justice': What is mediation? Its origins and position in the juridical field; Mediation within the field of civil conflict; The strengths and weaknesses of mediated settlements; Splits in mediation practice: the fragmentation of the mediation field (e.g., evaluative, facilitative, and transformative mediation); The prospects for mediation in the informal/formal justice complex; Chapter 4: Restorative Justice as 'Informal' Justice: What is restorative justice? Its origins, intersections with mediation, and position in the juridical field; Restoration within the field of criminal conflict; The strengths and weaknesses of restoration; Splits in the practice of restoration: 'communitarian' and 'governmentalist' restoration; The prospects for restorative justice in the informal/formal justice complex; Chapter 5: Reparations as Informal Justice: What are reparations? Their origins, intersections with mediation and restorative justice, and position within the juridical field; Reparations within the fields of national and international conflict; The strengths and weaknesses of reparations; Splits in the field of reparations: reparations for justice and reparations for certainty; The prospects for reparations in the informal/formal justice complex; Chapter 6: Conclusions: Summary of Noted Tensions and Contradictions in the Juridical Field (pertaining to mediation, restorative justice, and reparations); Reconfiguring the informal/formal complex; Towards "Transformative Justice".