Transformative justice, reparations and transatlantic slavery.pdf (713.42 kB)
Transformative justice, reparations and transatlantic slavery
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 08:50 authored by Matthew EvansMatthew Evans, David WilkinsThis article considers lessons recent debates concerning transitional and transformative justice, and surrounding transformative reparations, could offer to discussions regarding reparations for transatlantic slavery. Even transitional justice programmes aiming to provide transformative reparations in the form of development programmes (such as healthcare, education and housing provision) have enabled governments to avoid addressing structural causes of inequalities. The article argues that calling for reparations for transatlantic slavery in the form of development projects is potentially regressive. Framing development programmes as reparations, as parts of the Caribbean Community Ten-Point Plan for reparations do, risks presenting these as necessary only because of powerful states’ duty to make amends for past wrongdoing. The article calls for advocates of reparations for transatlantic slavery to be more explicit in demarcating the backward- and forward-looking foundations of their claims. The importance of symbolic and non-financial reparations ought to be more explicitly highlighted as a potential contributor to the social repair of transatlantic slavery’s harmful legacies. Moreover, distributive justice should be explicitly emphasized as being necessary to realize the present-day and future rights of people suffering from the historical legacy of transatlantic slavery and not simply because the present situation is the result of historical injustice.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Social & Legal StudiesISSN
0964-6639Publisher
SAGE PublicationsExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
28Page range
137-157Department affiliated with
- Law Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Sussex Centre for Human Rights Research Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2017-11-15First Open Access (FOA) Date
2017-11-15First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2017-11-15Usage metrics
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