Content area
Abstract
The inability of certain formal mechanisms of transitional justice, like the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) or the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to connect with the grassroots, the realistic inability of law to do everything that is demanded after atrocity, and different justice claims of people on the ground suggest that the process, scope and goals need to be reconceptualized. I examine the dichotomy of justice and care. I emphasize the role of feminist care ethics in transitional justice, and include data collected from fieldwork in Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Utilizing this data alongside feminist theory, multicultural theory, and care ethics leads me to argue that transitional justice needs to include care activities, particularly of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Such activities contribute to recovery, to an ability to participate in formal mechanisms of transitional justice, and to a feeling of justice in their own right as part of a holistic approach to transitional justice. A reconceptualized approach informed by feminist care ethics would address a broader set of past wrongs, and think more seriously about the society to be constructed through transitional justice.
