Navigating Local Transitional Justice: Agency at Work in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone

In post-war Sierra Leone, a range of transitional justice mechanisms were implemented to address experiences of conflict, violence, and human rights violations. Much of the research on local transitional justice processes has focused on the work of organisations, failing to acknowledge how individual and communal dynamics shape and are shaped by these programs. Drawing on original fieldwork in Sierra Leone, Laura S. Martin moves beyond discussions measuring effectiveness and considers how people navigate their circumstances in conflict and post-conflict societies. Developing the idea of recognised and unrecognised transitional justice processes, Martin uses Fambul Tok as an example of a recognised local transitional justice program and shows how ordinary Sierra Leoneans appropriated Fambul Tok’s agenda for their own purposes. Ultimately, this book highlights the crucial role of agency and the diverse range of actors involved in transitional justice processes. Justice, as Martin powerfully argues, is not something that happens to or for people, but is enacted by individuals and communities.

• Broadens our understanding of justice in post-conflict societies by examining how agency results in a diverse range of perspectives and experiences
• Provides a comprehensive analysis of the various transitional justice mechanisms in Sierra Leone
• Analyses the impact of NGOs and considers how they can transform beyond post-conflict settings

Dr Laura Martin is a Lecturer in International Development at the University of Glasgow and a lecturer at the University of Makeni in Makeni, Sierra Leone. She is the author of Navigating Local Transitional Justice: Agency at Work in Post-conflict Sierra Leone and co-author of Humour and Politics in Africa: Beyond Resistance (despite her terrible sense of humour). She has conducted research in Sierra Leone for over a decade and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Modern African Studies.

This conversation will be facilitated by Dr Sayra van den Berg Post-Doctoral Research Associate and Editor of the Civil War Paths Blog, working on transitional justice and civil war and the socio-legal dynamics of accountability within and across armed groups in sub-Saharan Africa.