Legal Decisions, Affective Justice and 'Moving On'?

• Main Authors: Agata Fijalkowski, Sigrun L. Valderhaug
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2017-06-01
• Series: Oñati Socio-Legal Series
• Subjects: Affective justice; law and aesthetics; Justicia afectiva; derecho y estética
• Online Access: http://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/725

<p>Our paper argues that a move away from the linear approach adopted in transitional justice scholarship is required to the question of &lsquo;moving on&rsquo;, understood as the way in which a post-dictatorial or a post-conflict regime addresses the past injustices of the predecessor regime. We consider this question in relation to two case studies: post-dictatorial Albania and post-conflict Sierra Leone. Both examples point to important factors that underpin the meanings of &lsquo;moving on&rsquo; and of justice, when analysed through a law and aesthetics lens. It has long been established that legal scholarship that makes use of works of art aids and clarifies the points that it wants to make. We examine the power of certain art forms, namely the way in which space &lsquo;speaks&rsquo; and the narratives found in an image in the Albanian context, and the use of film to provide a deeper appreciation of the conflict in the Sierra Leonean context. Different aesthetic practices have been used as a way to respond to historical injustice and mass atrocity, also when partial justice (through the law) has been achieved. Our article argues that law&rsquo;s limitations can be understood through the process of unravelling the pieces of the puzzle that make up affective justice. Artistic representation allows for a more complex narration than law&rsquo;s linear demands.</p> <hr /><p>Este art&iacute;culo defiende que para poder &ldquo;avanzar&rdquo;, es necesario un alejamiento del enfoque lineal adoptado por los acad&eacute;micos expertos en justicia transicional, entendida &eacute;sta como la forma en la que un r&eacute;gimen aborda, despu&eacute;s de una dictadura o un conflicto, injusticias perpetradas durante el r&eacute;gimen anterior. Se considera esta cuesti&oacute;n en relaci&oacute;n con dos estudios de caso: Albania despu&eacute;s de una dictadura, y Sierra Leona despu&eacute;s de un conflicto. Ambos ejemplos apuntan factores importantes que sustentan los significados de &ldquo;avanzar&rdquo; y de justicia, cuando se analizan a trav&eacute;s de la lente del derecho y la est&eacute;tica. Desde hace mucho se ha aceptado que usar obras de arte ayuda a acad&eacute;micos juristas a aclarar las ideas que quiere transmitir. Se examina el poder de ciertas formas de arte, es decir, c&oacute;mo "habla" el espacio y las narrativas encontradas en una imagen en el contexto alban&eacute;s, y en el contexto de Sierra Leona, el uso del cine para proporcionar una apreciaci&oacute;n m&aacute;s profunda del conflicto. Se han utilizado diferentes pr&aacute;cticas est&eacute;ticas como forma de responder a injusticias hist&oacute;ricas y atrocidades masivas, incluso cuando se ha logrado una justicia parcial (a trav&eacute;s del derecho). Este art&iacute;culo defiende que las limitaciones del derecho se pueden entender a trav&eacute;s del proceso de resolver las piezas del rompecabezas que confirman la justicia afectiva. La representaci&oacute;n art&iacute;stica nos permite una narraci&oacute;n m&aacute;s compleja que las reivindicaciones lineales del derecho.</p> <p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2977204" target="_blank">https://ssrn.com/abstract=2977204</a></p>