Transition and Justice: An Introduction

Since the end of the Cold War, political new beginnings have increasingly been linked to questions of transitional justice. The contributions to this collection examine a series of cases from across the African continent where peaceful ‘new beginnings’ have been declared after periods of violence and where transitional justice institutions played a role in defining justice and the new socio-political order. Three issues seem to be crucial to the understanding of transitional justice in the context of wider social debates on justice and political change: the problem of ‘new beginnings’, of finding a foundation for that which explicitly breaks with the past; the discrepancies between lofty promises and the messy realities of transitional justice in action; and the dialectic between logics of the exception and the ordinary, employed to legitimize or resist transitional justice mechanisms. These are the particular focus of this Introduction.

Timely Tenses: Considering Present Tense Narration

When the jury of the Man Booker Prize 2010 chose three novels for their short-list that were written in present tense they earned some harsh criticism. To some, like Philipp Pullman, present tense narration seemed to be no more than an annoying fad, “a silly affectation,” which he criticises as a limitation to narrative possibility.1 Nevertheless, present tense narration is spreading fast, not only among Booker Prize nominees and winners. Indeed, it has become so common that it hardly seems to draw much attention anymore. But what is the appeal of present tense narration to contemporary authors? What effect does the choice of present tense narration have on the ways stories are told and read? This paper will address and compare the use of present tense narration in recent British novels by authors such as Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies), Ali Smith (Hotel World, The Accidental ), Tom McCarthy (C) and others, looking for similarities and differences in their respective narrative rationale. In view of the heterogeneous and complex use of present tense in contemporary fiction, I would like to suggest, merely pointing to the pace of contemporary life and the simultaneity of new communication media does not suffice to adequately address a phenomenon that has become a characteristic feature of 21st century narration. 1 Laura Roberts. “Philip Pullman and Philip Hensher criticise Booker Prize for including present tense novels.” The Telegraph. 11. Sept. 2010.

Where Empires Meet: Orientalism and Marginality at the Former Russo-British Frontier

This article explores the intersection of orientalism and marginality in two regions at the former Russo-British frontier between Central and South Asia. Focussing on Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan and Gilgit-Baltistan in today’s Pakistan, an analysis of historical and contemporary orientalist projections on and in the two border regions reveals changing modes of domination through the course of the twentieth century (British, Kashmiri, Pakistani and Russian, Soviet, Tajik). In this regard, different local experiences of “ colonial ” rule, both in Gorno-Badakhshan and Gilgit-Baltistan, challenge “ classical ” periodisations of colonial/postcolonial and colonial/socialist/postsocialist. This article furthermore maintains that processes of marginalisation in both regions can be interpreted as effects of imperial and Cold War contexts that have led to the establishment of the frontier. Thus, a central argument is that neither the status of the frontier between Central and South Asia as a stable entity, nor the periodisations that have conventionally been ascribed to the two regions as linear timelines can be taken for granted.

Geschichte unter der Schere politischer Zensur. Amtliche Aktensammlungen im internationalen Vergleich

Zala focuses his account on the edition of the "Documents on German Foreign Policy" - documents that the US army, at the end of the Second World War, uncovered hidden in Thuringia. They were confidential documents from the archives of the German Foreign Office that had been evacuated. After the war, the United States commenced to publish these documents. Especially the documents on German relations with the Soviet Union and the discovery of the top secret additional protocol to the Soviet-German non-aggression pact of 1939 - dividing Poland up between both states - made them an excellent tool in the Cold War. Zala shows how these documents were used politically, but also what kind of controversies went on because of them in diplomatic channels.

Covert or Overt Intervention? The Reagan Administration in Latin America

In my thesis I looked at Cold War interventionism by America. In the Post WWII period, many countries were searching for freedom from colonial rule, and many were attracted to the idea of communism or socialism. In this context of a destabilized world and power struggle between the U.S.A and the U.S.S.R., revolutions often became points of interests and parts of this larger power play. Any type of revolution was a destabilization, in a system that was unstable at best, and peace between the powers rested precariously on the idea of “Mutually Assured Destruction.” I would like to look more specifically, at the Latin American Region, which seemed full of upheaval, and was an area of much intervention, especially during the Reagan Administration. This administration had varying goals and conflicts about the region. The large amount of interventionism in the 1980s was in part a response to the Vietnam War, which was seen as an American failure, since prevention of communism did not occur. Following this, American strength needed to be shown again in the international stage, especially in Latin America, due to its close proximity to America. I would like to explore the intervention in Grenada and see if it followed a pattern of intervention in the region. This will be contrasted with the case of Nicaragua, which seemed more typical of interventions in the region. The causes of intervention in the region as well as the reasons these interventions took such different courses will be explored and investigated.

Representing Afghanistan: The United States and Democracy's Imposition

There is an ongoing mission in Afghanistan; a mission driven by external political forces. At its core this mission hopes to establish peace, to protect the populace, and to install democracy. Each of these goals has remained just that, a goal, for the past eight years as the American and international mission in Afghanistan has enjoyed varied levels of commitment. Currently, the stagnant progress in Afghanistan has led the international community to become increasingly concerned about the viability of a future Afghan state. Most of these questions take root in the question over whether or not an Afghan state can function without the auspices of international terrorism. Inevitably, the normative question of what exactly that government should be arises from this base concern. In formulating a response to this question, the consensus of western society has been to install representative democracy. This answer has been a recurring theme in the post Cold War era as states such as Bosnia and Somalia bear witness to the ill effects of external democratic imposition. I hypothesize that the current mold of externally driven state-building is unlikely to result in what western actors seek it to establish: representative democracy. By primarily examining the current situation in Afghanistan, I claim that external installation of representative democracy is modally flawed in that its process mandates choice. Representative democracy by definition constitutes a government reflective of its people, or electorate. Thus, freedom of choice is necessary for a functional representative democracy. From this, one can deduce that because an essential function of democracy is choice, its implementation lies with the presence of choice. State-building is an imposition that eliminates that necessary ingredient. The two stand as polar opposites that cannot effectively collaborate. Security, governing capacity, and development have all been targeted as measurements of success in Afghanistan. The three factors are generally seen as mutually constitutive; so improved security is seen as improving governing capacity. Thus, the recent resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and a deteriorating security environment moving forward has demonstrated the inability of the Afghan government to govern. The primary reason for the Afghan government’s deficiencies is its lack of legitimacy among its constituency. Even the use of the term ‘constituency’ must be qualified because the Afghan government has often oscillated between serving the people within its territorial borders and the international community. The existence of the Afghan state is so dependent on foreign aid and intervention that it has lost policy-making and enforcing power. This is evident by the inability of Afghanistan to engage in basic sovereign state activities as maintaining a national budget, conducting elections, providing for its own national security, and deterring criminality. The Afghan state is nothing more than a shell of a government, and indicative of the failings that external state-building has with establishing democracy.

Algo más que una relación epistolar : Francisco Romero, Edgar S. Brightman y el personalismo norteamericano

Dentro del epistolario de Francisco Romero, que permanece inédito, se analizan las cartas que intercambió con el filósofo personalista Edgar S. Brightman (1884–1953), como así también se alude a otros representantes dentro del movimiento en EEUU. Este escrito se apoya en la hipótesis del interés compartido por esta corriente de ideas dentro de los años que van desde la II Guerra Mundial hasta los inicios de la llamada Guerra Fría. Se alude también al propósito de ambos corresponsales por acercar la filosofía estadounidense y la desarrollada en América Latina. Las cartas en el repositorio se extienden entre 1939 y 1952. Se incluye como anexo la nota necrológica sobre Brightman redactada por José Vasconcelos con el fin de mostrar que su filosofía interesaba también en otros países latinoamericanos.

La política exterior argentina durante la guerra fría : Interpretaciones y debates

El artículo se propone ver cuáles han sido los usos del pasado en los trabajos de política exterior desde las distintas perspectivas teóricas. Para hacerlo, presentaremos un brevísimo racconto del desarrollo disciplinar y señalaremos cuales son sus principales enfoques sobre el periodo, tanto en términos generales, como específicos, cuando terminó esta fase, para finalmente realizar una conclusión sobre la misma.

Rómulo Betancourt, Juan D. Perón y el 17 de octubre de 1945

Rómulo Betancourt y Juan D. Perón lideraron movimientos políticos considerados génesis de la democracia de masas en sus respectivos países, jalonada por sendos mítines populares del 17 de octubre de 1945 en Caracas y Buenos Aires, cuyo significado fue realzado como causa del proceso político ulterior. Pese a las diferencias, se destacan algunas semejanzas, tales como el contenido popular de ambos movimientos y cierta base de sustentación castrense. Se incluye un marco explicativo del proceso político venezolano precedente pero, en lo sustancial, el análisis se centra en el breve periodo transcurrido entre finales de la Segunda Guerra y el inicio de la Guerra Fría, cuando se produjeron cambios políticos en Argentina y Venezuela con un gran protagonismo de ambos dirigentes en sus respectivos países y en las recíprocas intromisiones que llevaron a cabo, enfatizando la oposición expresa de Betancourt hacia Perón desde el golpe de Estado del 4 de junio de 1943.

Navegar en la tormenta : El anticomunismo en la historiografía de los Estados Unidos durante la Guerra Fría

Este artículo indaga la gravitación del anticomunismo en la historiografía norteamericana durante la guerra fría. Comienza con una reconstrucción histórica de tal actitud política en la sociedad americana; luego analiza la expansión, características y perdurabilidad del macartismo y, finalmente, describe sus consecuencias sobre la investigación, enseñanza y divulgación de la historia. Analiza como fuentes principales a las obras historiográficas y a los historiadores que sufrieron las ráfagas del anticomunismo; así como a las resoluciones e interpretaciones que desde el propio campo de la disciplina y de las agencias gubernamentales legitimaron la necesidad de prohibir y expurgar la influencia marxista sobre el campo de la cultura, de la educación y del saber histórico. El artículo explica la manera en que las prácticas persecutorias afectaron la carrera de historiadores izquierdistas o progresistas y cómo impactaron sobre las interpretaciones de procesos y acontecimientos significativos del pasado de la gran nación americana.

"Sino el espanto" : Temas, prácticas y alianzas de los anticomunismos de derecha en Argentina entre 1955 y 1966

Este artículo se concentra en la vida política de algunas organizaciones anticomunistas de derecha en Argentina entre 1955 y 1966: se intenta poner de manifiesto la pluralidad de tradiciones anticomunistas presentes en el país, así como algunas de las diferentes vinculaciones internacionales de las que participaban. A partir de la consulta a fuentes periodísticas, oficiales y de la inteligencia policial, se reunió información para reconstruir las posturas ideológicas, las lecturas sobre los problemas sociales y culturales argentinos y algunas de las actividades políticas lideradas (o acompañadas) por diversos actores anticomunistas. Este período se caracteriza por una súbita coronación del anticomunismo en los discursos políticos, al punto de desplazar o subsumir una preocupación sobre el peronismo, originariamente más relevante. El anticomunismo terminó convirtiéndose en una pieza clave en la articulación entre las distintas familias de derecha.

"Mujeres-sombra" y "Barbudas" : Género y política en el Primer Congreso Latinoamericano de Mujeres, Chile- 1959

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar los contrapuntos que el comunismo realizó con otras perspectivas y el modo particular en que sus propuestas fueron visualizadas. El Primer Congreso Latinoamericano de Mujeres realizado en 1959 es una ocasión singular para captar esos debates a través de un corpus documental de prensa comercial y partidaria, cartas y entrevistas. Los resultados muestran las estrategias de distintos sectores por captar a las mujeres y, asimismo, los conflictos internos que tuvieron para definirlas como sujetos revolucionarios y reconocer sus especificidades en los proyectos que marchaban al socialismo.;

Intelectuales y Guerra Fría : El Congreso por la Libertad de la Cultura en Argentina y Chile, 1950-1964

El artículo compara la trayectoria de las filiales argentina y chilena del Congreso por la Libertad de la Cultura - un producto de Estados Unidos en la Guerra Fría cultural creado en 1950-entre 1950 y 1964. Basado en numerosas fuentes primarias y secundarias, contribuye a de-centrar los estudios sobre la Guerra Fría cultural, mostrando la manera en que desarrollos históricos internacionales fueron procesados a nivel local y revelando similitudes y diferencias entre las dos filiales relacionadas con el contexto político, ideológico y cultural específico de cada país.