BACKGROUND
In the past two decades a concern with ‘victim participation’ has come to dominate transitional justice scholarship and practice. Participation, it has been argued, can be both a locus and driver of transformative change. Meaningful participation allegedly foregrounds lived experiences and reflexive understandings of rights that underpin various agendas for justice and redress.
In an ideal scenario, participation in formal transitional justice mechanisms may offer opportunities to people who have experienced violence to subvert injustices. Innovative participation schemes have therefore been developed in various countries and settings. And a rich body of literature has emerged that on the one hand addresses questions of participatory modalities, and on the other, formulates a rich critique of current participation discourse(s).
It has become widely accepted that, in order to understand what meaningful participation could look like, they need to look beyond the formal institutions of transitional justice. People who have experienced violence often engage in various informal spaces and processes that exist before, after and around these formal participation opportunities. This conference takes these participation ecologies as a starting point.
They focus on the trajectory of actions undertaken by victims in their struggle for accountability, truth, repair, non-recurrence, memorialization, redress, and disruption of a harmful status quo. These trajectories unfold across formal and informal spaces, involve multiple phases and forms of engagement, and necessitate a process-based and open-ended exploration of outcomes that emerge at various moments in these trajectories.
The conference will bring together scholars and practitioners working on topics related to these justice-seeking trajectories of conflict-affected individuals and groups, from the Global South and North, from a range of disciplines, and adopting a range of methods or practices in their work.
Together they will reflect on the most important evolutions in the field. They will build and expand on the extant (academic and practical) knowledge-base to theorize participation in formal and informal spaces as pathways of change. In doing so, we will re-imagine the future of ‘victim participation’.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
They invite proposals for panels, papers and other (creative) formats.
They encourage the submission of proposals for online participation, and will rank those submissions that propose creative ways of engaging online higher among equals, in order to ensure that also online formats become inspiring and dynamic conversations. For technical reasons, they cannot, however, accept hybrid panels with some online and some offline presentations.
While they cannot guarantee simultaneous interpretation through the conference, they invite proposals in English, Spanish, French or Arabic, and will seek to organize a meaningful and substantial program also for those who are not comfortable in English.
All panel or round table submissions should include:
- Abstract (max. 250 words)
- Convener bio (max. 100 words) and contact details
- At least two contributions (max. 250 words + 100 words author information)
- The conference stream and whether this will be an online or in-person panel
All proposals for paper submissions or other formats should include:
- Abstract (max. 250 words)
- In case of ‘other’ format, a short description of the format and spatial and technical requirements (max. 250 words)
- Author bio (max. 100 words) and contact details
- The conference stream and whether you will present online or in-person
Only submissions received by 15 September 2023 via the submit button at the bottom of this page will be considered by the organizers. Please indicate in your submission whether you wish to apply for financial support. Please note that only limited funding is available, and that Global South participants will be prioritized.
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