"A well-written and interesting book that takes the reader through a wide literature on - as the title promises - peace, justice, and reconciliation and ties these themes together in a compelling way." --Stephen Crowley, Oberlin College. "Porter puts forward important and often complex topic in a straightforward and accessible way.... This book makes a major contribution to the IR literature in general, as well as to discussions of post-conflict transformation, DDR and its challenges, and human, including feminist, security." --Joyce P. Kaufman, Whittier College. Can post-conflict states achieve both peace and justice as they deal with a traumatic past? What role does reconciliation play in healing wounds, building trust, and rectifying injustices? This provocative book, incorporating the frameworks of both peace/conflict studies and transitional justice, explores the core challenges that war-torn states confront once the violence has ended. The book is organized around a series of questions, each one the subject of a chapter, with each chapter presenting a wide range of practical examples and case studies. The author also stakes out a position on each question, encouraging readers to evaluate and respond to ideas, practices, and strategies. Narratives are a notable feature of the work, with the human consequences of war and peace highlighted throughout. Elisabeth Porter is professor of politics and international relations at the University of South Australia. Her recent publications include Peace and Security: Implications for Women and Peacebuilding: Women in International Perspective.

This book develops the twin concepts of restorative justice and reconciliation as frameworks for peacebuilding that contain great potential for addressing common dilemmas: peace versus justice, religious versus secular approaches, individual versus structural justice, reconciliation versus retribution, and the harmonization of the sheer multiplicity of practices involved in repairing past harms

¿A stimulating read.... Ambitious in scope and with much original insight, this work is an important contribution to an important debate.¿ ¿Carrie Manning, Georgia State University ¿Westendorf offers an important framework for analyzing prospects for state building by the international community.¿ ¿Desha M. Girod, Georgetown University Why do so many post¿civil war societies continue to be characterized by widespread violence and political instability? Or, more succinctly, why do peace processes so often fail to consolidate peace? Addressing this question, Jasmine-Kim Westendorf explores how the international community engages in resolving civil wars¿and clarifies why, despite the best of intentions and the investment of significant resources, external actors fail in their reconstruction efforts and even contribute to perpetuating the very conditions of insecurity and conflict that they are trying to alleviate. Jasmine-Kim Westendorf is lecturer in international relations at La Trobe University.

Rigby (Center for the Study of Forgiveness and Reconciliation, Coventry U., England) investigates different approaches to "policing" the past, from mass purges on one end of the spectrum to collective social amnesia on the other. He uses case studies based in Europe, Spain, Latin America, South Africa, and Palestine to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each, clarifying the connection between how the past is acknowledged and prospects of a present and future culture of peace. c. Book News Inc.

This book seeks to refine our understanding of transitional justice and peacebuilding, and long-term security and reintegration challenges after violent conflicts. As recent events following political change during the so-called 'Arab Spring' demonstrate, demands for accountability often follow or attend conflict and political transition. While traditionally much literature and many practitioners highlighted tensions between peacebuilding and justice, recent research and practice demonstrates a turn away from the supposed 'peace vs justice' dilemma. This volume examines the complex relationship between peacebuilding and transitional justice through the lenses of the increased emphasis on victim-centred approaches to justice and the widespread practices of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of excombatants. While recent volumes have sought to address either DDR or victim-centred approaches to justice, none has sought to make connections between the two, much less to place them in the larger context of the increasing linkages between transitional justice and peacebuilding. This book will be of great interest to students of transitional justice, peacebuilding, human rights, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR.

"Did the United Nations successfully help to build a just, peaceful state and society in postconflict East Timor? Has transitional justice satisfied local demands for accountability and/or reconciliation? What lessons can be learned from the UN's efforts? Drawing on extensive field work, James DeShaw Rae offers a grassroots perspective on the relationship between peacebuilding and transitional justice. Rae traces the effects of the political violence perpetrated in East Timor during the Indonesian occupation, as well as the UN-authorized intervention and the ultimate formulation of the rebuilding effort. In the process, he explores the results of hybrid (mixed domestic-international) tribunals and the attempt to conduct war crimes tribunals and truth and reconciliation commissions in tandem. Not least, his account of the impact of international actors working with the East Timorese to construct a new nation from the ground up suggests important policy prescriptions for all postconflict societies."--Publisher description.

Bringing together leading scholars and practitioners from the worlds of leadership, followership, transitional justice, and international law, this research provides a blueprint of how people-led, bottom-up, grassroots efforts can foster reconciliation and a more peaceful world.