DIIS seminar: Troubles with Truth Commissions in and beyond Political Transitions

TID: Onsdag den 26. februar kl. 13-15

STED: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Gammel Kalkbrænderi Vej 51A, Reception, 2100 København Ø.

Truth commissions in the aftermath of repression and mass violence are the centerpiece of a politics of transparency that attributes moral power to truth telling. Yet truth commissions have prompted increasing skepticism.

TID: Onsdag den 26. februar kl. 13-15

STED: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Gammel Kalkbrænderi Vej 51A, Reception, 2100 København Ø.

Truth commissions in the aftermath of repression and mass violence are the centerpiece of a politics of transparency that attributes moral power to truth telling. Yet truth commissions have prompted increasing skepticism.

In her talk, Margaret Walker focuses on skepticism specifically about the least contestable aim of a truth commission: to tell the truth, within the scope of its mandate, about abuses in an era of repression or conflict.

First, she distinguishes several prominent lines of criticism: concern with lack of methodological rigor in truth finding; concern with practices of truth finding that produce problematic silences; and pursuing the “wrong” truth, so failing to meet the needs of a society in transition.

Second, Walker argues that these critiques involve questions of importantly different kinds: practical and technical questions about how a commission can accomplish its truth-finding work effectively, and moral and political questions about which truths and whose truths it is important for a truth commission to tell.

While both kinds of questions are fundamental to the work of truth commissions, they are radically different kinds of questions that cannot be answered in the same way. Further, the moral and political questions set the goal to which the practical questions are directed and to which they remain subordinate.

Finally, Walker suggests that the multiple practical, moral, and political limits truth commissions face suggest the need for long term extension, disaggregation, and diversity of truth recovery practices.

Speakers:
* Thomas Brudholm, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen
* Johannes Lang, Postdoctoral Fellow, DIIS
* Margaret Urban Walker, Professor, Marquette University

The seminar will be held in English.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. Please use the online registration form no later than Tuesday, 25 February 2014 at 12.00 noon.

Read more and register at: http://en.diis.dk/home/seminars/2014/troubles+with+truth+commissions+in+and+beyond+political+transitions

Please await confirmation by e-mail from DIIS for participation.