Call for Papers: 'Social Movements, Civil Society and Transitional Justice'
International Journal of Transitional Justice 2011 Special Issue

Social mobilisation as a collective enterprise: Common goals and shared values

The International Journal of Transitional Justice invites submissions for its 2011 special issue titled ‘Civil Society, Social Movements and Transitional Justice,' to be guest edited by Moses Chrispus Okello, Senior Research Advisor, Refugee Law Project and Coordinator, Beyond Juba Project, Uganda and Lucy Hovil, Senior Researcher, Citizenship and Displacement in the Great Lakes region, International Refugee Rights Initiative.

The edition aims to explore the role played by social movements and civil society organisations in engendering processes of democratic change by examining how mobilisation by ordinary citizens can influence the path and content of transitional justice policies. Civil society and social movements can be key drivers in ending repression and bringing about post-conflict reconstruction and justice. Yet recent history shows us that TJ processes are frequently top down – led either by international organizations and institutions, or through state-centric approaches, at times to the detriment of local civil society. Indeed, any transitional justice process that does not fully engage with civil society at all levels (local or international) is unlikely to be sustainable. That said, civil society organizations themselves, particularly those that are locally-based, have been victims of conflict and have equally suffered the impact of violence and restrictions on political space. Equal recognition that civil society itself is in need of rehabilitation is therefore critical to the engagement of these very same institutions in transitions to justice.

This issue will seek to better understand the different contexts and dynamics in which social movements germinate and operate. What environments are most conducive to the emergence of socio-civil organisations? How are social and civil movements affected by their operational contexts (local and international) and what conditions are necessary for them to bring about psychological, socio-economic and/or political healing? What strategies, methods, and resources do social movements and civil society organisations employ in sustaining TJ shifts and changes (and therefore ensuring their ability to stay the course and influence policy)? Are civil society TJ movements inherently reformist or insurrectionist in nature? Are they pro-active or reactive? What motivates some citizens to engage in civil social movements and not others? Which citizens engage? What are the implications for a transitional process of any of these means of approaching socio-political change? In short, what form(s) of organisation bring about post-conflict/post-atrocity justice and how?

Possible topics to be covered in this issue will include:
• Survivor/victim organizations and TJ
• TJ as a social movement
• TJ and the international human rights movement
• International civil society and TJ processes
• Relationship between local, national, transnational and international civil
society
• Political context for civil society operating in periods of transition
• Role of funding and funders: who controls the agenda?
• Limitations of civil society in advocacy (who speaks, who influences?)
• Role of international actors in norm setting and the establishment of models
• Role and influence of civil society – in establishing mechanisms, implementing TJ programmes, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation
• Impact of TJ mechanisms on civil society
• Linkages between TJ, Forced Migration and civil society
• Role of the media in TJ
• Role of popular culture in TJ
• Engagement of religious actors in TJ processes
• Art and literature in TJ
• Civil society, TJ and community-building
• Civil society and schools/curriculum reform
• Civil society and outreach programs
• Women's groups and TJ
• Civil society and DDR
• Civil Society, social movements and war department claims

The deadline for submissions is April 1, 2011.

Papers should be submitted online from the IJTJ webpage at www.ijtj.oxfordjournals.org

For questions or further information, please contact the Managing Editor at [email][email protected]