Unintended consequences in transitional justice : social recovery at the local level /

In this short book, Abe (Otani Univ., Japan) draws on a number of empirical cases in Africa, Asia, and Europe to ascertain why transitional justice programs are deemed failures or successes. He focuses on local responses to national or international transitional justice programs (truth commissions, ad hoc international tribunals, hybrid courts, gacaca courts, and International Criminal Court cases), and the presence of signs of local self-recovery from social and political fragmentation. Abe's analysis describes a diversity of unintended outcomes of transitional justice programs by highlighting the tension between local responses and national goals. This seven-chapter book adds theoretical insights that would interest both transitional justice scholars and practitioners. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Lavinia Stan, St. Francis Xavier University