Distributive Justice in the Spanish-Speaking Raum

As a further sequence to a research project on socio-economic justice in transitions undertaken by the FICHL, PRIO and the University of los Andes, the anthology ‘Distributive Justice in Transitions’ has been translated into Spanish: ‘Justicia distributiva en sociedades en transición’. Both editions are freely available at http://www.fichl.org/publication-series/. 

Transitional justice lawyers often focus on the criminal justice response to violence. Much less attention is dedicated to socio-economic or distributive injustice, which may be the root-cause of the violence and may continue to threaten the peace long after a transitional process has started. As one author puts it, transitional justice lawyers seem more interested in Hobbesian approaches than in the basic needs of many victims. As a consequence, the rate of return of seized land to internally displaced persons, of reparations, or of redistribution programmes remains strikingly low in several countries that are embraced by the transitional justice industry. This is an entrenched challenge in several Spanish-speaking countries. 

The anthology speaks to this imbalance. It contains 14 chapters by experts such as Jon Elster, Stephen Holmes, Elisabeth Wood, Albert Perry, César Rodríguez-Garavito, María Paula Saffon, and Rodrigo Uprimny. 

The Spanish edition will be presented at a seminar in Bogotá on 16 April 2012 from 17:00 (Universidad de los Andes, Auditorio SD 1003, Edificio Santo Dominico, Piso 10, Calle 21 # 1-20), co-organized by the FICHL and the University of los Andes. Among the speakers at the seminar are César Rodríguez Garavito, Ana María Ibañes, Katya Salazar, Yamile Salinas, and Rodrigo Uprimny. Please register at http://eventos.uniandes.edu.co/s/justiciadistributiva.