Can Transitional Justice Expose the Great American Myth?
Can Transitional Justice Expose the Great American Myth?
Transitional justice is a method for exposing and providing accountability for political violence, human rights violations, and other abuses. Professor Kelebogile Zvobgo, director of the International Justice Lab, suggests that transitional justice could help reveal the truth of institutional racism and systemic inequality in the United States, and could be used to hold accountable elected officials who engaged in disinformation around the results of the 2020 election, inciting the January 6 insurrection.
Her op-ed piece, “‘This Is Not Who We Are’ Is a Great American Myth”, appeared in Foreign Policy on January 8. Zvobgo suggests that transitional justice is a method to account for human rights violations, not only for countries exiting conflict or authoritarian government, but also countries like the U.S. that need truth and justice to start the healing.
