Memory and transitional justice in Argentina and Uruguay : against impunity /

Memory and transitional justice in Argentina and Uruguay : against impunity /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Lessa, Francesca.
Edition:First edition.
Imprint:New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
©2013
Description:xvi, 319 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Language:English
Series:Memory politics and transitional justice
Memory politics and transitional justice.
Subject:
Transitional justice -- Argentina.
Transitional justice -- Uruguay.
Collective memory -- Argentina.
Collective memory -- Uruguay.
Collective memory.
Transitional justice.
Argentina.
Uruguay.
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/9118578
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9781137269386 (hardback)
1137269383 (hardback)
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-282) and index.
Summary:"Existing memory studies literature has focused on commemorative sites and dates while transitional justice scholarship has primarily centered on truth commissions, trials, and reparations. This book explores the interaction between memory and transitional justice and develops a theoretical framework to bring these two fields of study together through the concept of critical junctures. Focusing on post-dictatorship Argentina and Uruguay, Francesca Lessa uses critical junctures to track and explain moments of change. She traces and analyzes across time the dynamic evolution of and shifts in transitional justice policies and the emergence and replacement of dominant memory narratives in the context of enduring struggles for justice and against impunity"--Provided by publisher.
Review by Choice Review

Lessa (postdoctoral researcher, Univ. of Oxford, UK) analyzes the evolution of transitional justice policy and historical memory in Argentina and Uruguay from 1983 to 2012 via archival and secondary research complemented by 44 elite interviews. In two foundational chapters, Lessa reviews the literature on transitional justice and historical memory; provides a theoretical framework for critical junctures in governmental decision making; and reviews the path toward dictatorship in Argentina and Uruguay. The book then details the evolution of transitional justice policy in each country as well as changes in discourse regarding historical memory. The central contribution of these detailed case studies lies in Lessa's ability to detail the evolution of policy decisions and how government officials discuss transitional justice issues. The contrasts between the volatile situation in Argentina and the more entrenched forces favoring impunity in Uruguay are laid bare. For further analysis of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, see Luis Roniger's The Legacy of Human-Rights Violations in the Southern Cone (CH, Oct'00, 38-1200) and Elin Sklaar's Judicial Independence and Human Rights in Latin America (CH, Dec'11, 49-2330). Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. C. H. Blake James Madison University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
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