Spreading the truth: how truth commissions address human rights abuses in the world society
Material type:
ArticlePublisher: 2015Description: p.654-673.Subject(s): Human rights violations
In:
International SociologySummary: This research examines why truth commissions have proliferated worldwide and become a standard component of the transitional justice repertoire, in spite of a lack of evidence that the institution is viable or beneficial in diverse contexts. Drawing on world society theory, the article argues that rationalized myths about the value of truth telling have driven the diffusion of truth commissions. Data from 34 founding charters reveal that a commission's objectives do not necessarily correspond with the precipitating conflict or political transition, but are highly shaped by three external channels of influence: the United Nations, international consultants, and regional proximity. By identifying distinct actors that have developed and promoted different rationalized myths, the article refines world society theory's tendency to present routine uninhabited diffusion of a single institutional model. Instead, truth commissions provide evidence of the uneven spread of a multifarious global institution. - Reproduced.
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Articles
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Indian Institute of Public Administration | Volume no: 30, Issue no: 6 | Available | AR110504 |
This research examines why truth commissions have proliferated worldwide and become a standard component of the transitional justice repertoire, in spite of a lack of evidence that the institution is viable or beneficial in diverse contexts. Drawing on world society theory, the article argues that rationalized myths about the value of truth telling have driven the diffusion of truth commissions. Data from 34 founding charters reveal that a commission's objectives do not necessarily correspond with the precipitating conflict or political transition, but are highly shaped by three external channels of influence: the United Nations, international consultants, and regional proximity. By identifying distinct actors that have developed and promoted different rationalized myths, the article refines world society theory's tendency to present routine uninhabited diffusion of a single institutional model. Instead, truth commissions provide evidence of the uneven spread of a multifarious global institution. - Reproduced.
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