Transitional Justice for Foxes
Conflict, Pluralism and the Politics of Compromise

Offers a pluralist reading of transitional justice to deal with conflicts constructively and to enable diversity in approaches.

Frank Haldemann (Author)

9781108844222, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 December 2022

250 pages
25 x 17.5 x 1.5 cm, 0.63 kg

'Thoughtful and erudite, Frank Haldemann's masterful reflection on transitional justice demonstrates the complexity of the environment and the fallacy of a search for simplistic responses. The best may be the enemy of the good, he reminds us. Practitioners must learn to think like a fox, not a hedgehog.' William Schabas, Middlesex University

There is a memorable line by ancient Greek poet Archilochus: 'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.' Drawing on this metaphor made popular by Isaiah Berlin, this book sets out to 'think like a fox' about transitional justice in an intellectual environment largely dominated by hedgehogs. Critical of the unitary 'hedgehog-like' vision underlying mainstream discourse, this book proposes a pluralist reading of the field. It asks: What would it mean for transitional justice to constructively deal with conflicts of values and interests in societies grappling with a violent past? And what would it imply to make meaningful room for diversity, to see 'the many' rather than just 'the one'?

1. Setting the Stage
2. Conflict
3. Pluralism
4. Compromise
Conclusion
Select Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Jurisprudence & philosophy of law [LAB], Political science & theory [JPA], History of ideas [JFCX], Social & political philosophy [HPS]