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Land and the limits of liberal legalism - Property, transitional justice and non-reformist reforms in post-apartheid South Africa.pdf (307.6 kB)

Land and the limits of liberal legalism: property, transitional justice and non-reformist reforms in post-apartheid South Africa

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 00:40 authored by Matthew EvansMatthew Evans
Critical scholarship on transitional justice, in Africa and globally, has drawn attention both to limits of liberalism and legalism (such as inattention to structural injustices) and to normatively more expansive – transformative, and even revolutionary – approaches to justice. Focusing particularly on South Africa, this debate piece considers the roles of liberal property relations and conceptions of the rule of law in producing and maintaining injustices related to land and property in (post-)transitional societies in Africa and beyond. Moreover, the extent to which transitional justice might contribute to revolutionary aspirations of overcoming capitalist social and economic relations (as espoused, at least rhetorically, by liberation movements throughout Africa) is considered. It is suggested that while this is unlikely, non-reformist reforms offer one avenue by which more expansive (transformative or revolutionary) goals might be pursued, in part, in and through transitional justice.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Review of African Political Economy

ISSN

0305-6244

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

170

Volume

48

Page range

646-655

Department 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

2021-08-18

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2023-05-23

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2021-08-18

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