Two Paradigms of Justice: Criminal vs Survivor Justice in Africa
Dr. Christopher Zambakari
Abstract
African countries continue to experience civil wars, resulting in the death of thousands of people and displacement of millions of others. How should we make sense of the intractable nature of postcolonial violence? How should we resolve the problem of violence? What is the potential for advancing contemporary peace processes and negotiated agreements through the notion of survivor justice? Two paradigms of justice have emerged in Africa in response to mass violence: criminal justice based on the (Nuremberg trials) and survivor justice based on political reform, and exemplified by the cases of South Africa and Sudan. I compare these two paradigms of justice: criminal and survivor, and illuminate the context undergirding the debate surrounding these two theories of justice, underlining the assumptions of each, and the results for building peace in Africa. The guiding question is can civil wars be ended in courts? To answer this question, I analyze two paradigms of justice, criminal vs. survivor. My main arguments are that that (1) apartheid, one of the 20th century crimes against humanity, was not defeated in the court of law, (2) the example of South Africa’s political settlement and reconciliation process in Rwanda offer better examples for African countries, where there is no decisive military victory, and wherever violence is ongoing and driven by a constituency with real issues/grievances. I argue that in contexts where a decisive military victory is untenable, survivor justice, that is political reform combined with judicial reconciliation, is the best way to resolve Africa’s intractable conflicts.
Reference: Zambakari, C. (2019). Two Paradigms of Justice: Criminal vs Survivor Justice in Africa. Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal, Social, and Restorative Justice, forthcoming in Spring 2019.
Abstract
African countries continue to experience civil wars, resulting in the death of thousands of people and displacement of millions of others. How should we make sense of the intractable nature of postcolonial violence? How should we resolve the problem of violence? What is the potential for advancing contemporary peace processes and negotiated agreements through the notion of survivor justice? Two paradigms of justice have emerged in Africa in response to mass violence: criminal justice based on the (Nuremberg trials) and survivor justice based on political reform, and exemplified by the cases of South Africa and Sudan. I compare these two paradigms of justice: criminal and survivor, and illuminate the context undergirding the debate surrounding these two theories of justice, underlining the assumptions of each, and the results for building peace in Africa. The guiding question is can civil wars be ended in courts? To answer this question, I analyze two paradigms of justice, criminal vs. survivor. My main arguments are that that (1) apartheid, one of the 20th century crimes against humanity, was not defeated in the court of law, (2) the example of South Africa’s political settlement and reconciliation process in Rwanda offer better examples for African countries, where there is no decisive military victory, and wherever violence is ongoing and driven by a constituency with real issues/grievances. I argue that in contexts where a decisive military victory is untenable, survivor justice, that is political reform combined with judicial reconciliation, is the best way to resolve Africa’s intractable conflicts.
Reference: Zambakari, C. (2019). Two Paradigms of Justice: Criminal vs Survivor Justice in Africa. Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal, Social, and Restorative Justice, forthcoming in Spring 2019.
Modernization Theory and the Metaphor of the Development Ladder
Dr. Christopher Zambakari
Abstract
This article critically analyzes the popular metaphor of the “Development Ladder” within the theory of modernization. What assumptions underpin this metaphor and what problems are associated with the theory itself? I use the work of Sachs as a modern example of a text that relies extensively on the metaphor. I discuss the key assumptions informing the modernization theory and the metaphor of the Development Ladder. Next, I problematize the metaphor as rooted within modernization theory, discuss the assumptions of modernization theory, the implication of globalization on Africa and its relationship to the global market, and present and discuss the problems of historicity in development discourse.
Reference: Zambakari, C. (2018). Modernization Theory and the Metaphor of the Development Ladder. The Harvard Africa Policy Journal (APJ), 13(2017/2018]), 14-38.
Abstract
This article critically analyzes the popular metaphor of the “Development Ladder” within the theory of modernization. What assumptions underpin this metaphor and what problems are associated with the theory itself? I use the work of Sachs as a modern example of a text that relies extensively on the metaphor. I discuss the key assumptions informing the modernization theory and the metaphor of the Development Ladder. Next, I problematize the metaphor as rooted within modernization theory, discuss the assumptions of modernization theory, the implication of globalization on Africa and its relationship to the global market, and present and discuss the problems of historicity in development discourse.
Reference: Zambakari, C. (2018). Modernization Theory and the Metaphor of the Development Ladder. The Harvard Africa Policy Journal (APJ), 13(2017/2018]), 14-38.
A Discourse on the Legacy of Colonialism for Women in Africa
Dr. Christopher Zambakari
Abstract
This paper seeks to analyze two perspectives on women in Africa and in the west beyond an analysis of GBV, to focus on a discussion of the role and place of women and how it was framed under colonial governance and the implications that these transformations had on how we make sense of the place of women in society today. I will first discuss and review literature on the impact of colonialism in Africa, followed by a critique of the feminist theory in the west and then provide an alternative discourse on the study of women in the African context. The alternative to the western narrative that dominates scholarship on women’s history in Europe and the United States is offered by Ife Amadiume and Oyeronke Oyewumi’s scholarly contributions (Amadiume, 1987; Oyěwùmí, 1997). Both scholars offer an alternative which has been ignored in the west and demonstrates that the ideology of the struggle for women in the west has failed to take into account the distinctive socio-historical context of the women’s role and their place in African societies.
Reference: Zambakari, C. (2019). A Discourse on the Legacy of Colonialism for Women in Africa. The Harvard Africa Policy Journal (APJ), 14(2018/2019), 45-54.
Abstract
This paper seeks to analyze two perspectives on women in Africa and in the west beyond an analysis of GBV, to focus on a discussion of the role and place of women and how it was framed under colonial governance and the implications that these transformations had on how we make sense of the place of women in society today. I will first discuss and review literature on the impact of colonialism in Africa, followed by a critique of the feminist theory in the west and then provide an alternative discourse on the study of women in the African context. The alternative to the western narrative that dominates scholarship on women’s history in Europe and the United States is offered by Ife Amadiume and Oyeronke Oyewumi’s scholarly contributions (Amadiume, 1987; Oyěwùmí, 1997). Both scholars offer an alternative which has been ignored in the west and demonstrates that the ideology of the struggle for women in the west has failed to take into account the distinctive socio-historical context of the women’s role and their place in African societies.
Reference: Zambakari, C. (2019). A Discourse on the Legacy of Colonialism for Women in Africa. The Harvard Africa Policy Journal (APJ), 14(2018/2019), 45-54.
The Role of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Protecting Civilians
Dr. Christopher Zambakari and CAPT Robert A. Sanders, J.D. LP.D.
Abstract
This study seeks to investigate the geographic location and frequency distribution of three event types: violent and non-violent events, riots and protests, the distribution of fatalities in the general population and death rates by region, as well as an assessment of various interventions in Somalia between 2007 and 2017. We formulated four research questions to investigate the problem of violence in Somalia. Our results showed that battles and violent events (N = 19,433, 86.4%) were by far the most common event type, followed by non-violent events (N = 1,612, 7.2%), with riots and protests accounting for N = 1,442, 6.4%. Northern and central regions of Somalia registered the lowest number of events and fatalities and most of the violent events and fatalities occurred in the southern regions. We found little less than half (47.81%) of the events involved political or ethnic militia, and 40.93% of events involved rebel forces, and the government accounted for 38.78% of events. External intervention has led to internal division in Somalia by subverting the power dynamic, encouraging political polarization, radicalizing the insurgency and distribution of power, while lacking the resources and political will to sustain the preferred winning faction.
Reference: Zambakari, C., Kang, T. K., & Sanders, R. A. (2018). The Role of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Protecting Civilians. In S. C. Roach & D. K. Hudson (Eds.), The Challenge of Governance in South Sudan: Corruption, Peacebuilding, and Foreign Intervention (1 ed.). London, New York: Routledge.
Abstract
This study seeks to investigate the geographic location and frequency distribution of three event types: violent and non-violent events, riots and protests, the distribution of fatalities in the general population and death rates by region, as well as an assessment of various interventions in Somalia between 2007 and 2017. We formulated four research questions to investigate the problem of violence in Somalia. Our results showed that battles and violent events (N = 19,433, 86.4%) were by far the most common event type, followed by non-violent events (N = 1,612, 7.2%), with riots and protests accounting for N = 1,442, 6.4%. Northern and central regions of Somalia registered the lowest number of events and fatalities and most of the violent events and fatalities occurred in the southern regions. We found little less than half (47.81%) of the events involved political or ethnic militia, and 40.93% of events involved rebel forces, and the government accounted for 38.78% of events. External intervention has led to internal division in Somalia by subverting the power dynamic, encouraging political polarization, radicalizing the insurgency and distribution of power, while lacking the resources and political will to sustain the preferred winning faction.
Reference: Zambakari, C., Kang, T. K., & Sanders, R. A. (2018). The Role of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Protecting Civilians. In S. C. Roach & D. K. Hudson (Eds.), The Challenge of Governance in South Sudan: Corruption, Peacebuilding, and Foreign Intervention (1 ed.). London, New York: Routledge.
1 The Zambakari Advisory
2 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
3 Defense Institute of International Legal Studies
2 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
3 Defense Institute of International Legal Studies
The Advisory had the pleasure of presenting this topic— an event hosted by the Nile Institute Of Peace & Development.
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Moving Forward after Conflicts: Conceptualizing Reconciliation in Transitional Processes
Dr. Christopher Zambakari (The Zambakari Advisory)
Abstract
Conflicts are a common feature and reality in human relations. In all societies, conflicts exist in an explicitly visible form and many time they lie beneath the soil (deep-seated) waiting for an opportune moment to come to surface. Deep-seated conflicts may not be readily visible yet are present at the sub-strata level in society. Conflicts also occur at various levels - personal, interpersonal, societal, and international. In this research essay, I will discuss the concept of reconciliation and situate my analysis within the body of literature in transitional justice. According to the International Center for Transitional Justice, transitional justice is “set of judicial and non-judicial measures that have been implemented by different countries in order to redress the legacies of massive human rights abuses.” The four core pillars of the field include, criminal prosecutions, reparations, institutional reform, and truth commissions. The paper is organized around three key questions in the subject of reconciliation and its conceptualization. How is reconciliation conceptualized in academic literature? In the immediate aftermath of conflict, reconciliation is evoked as a mechanism and process of dealing with the past. What are the key components of reconciliation identified in scholarship? Finally, what are the challenges associated with conceptualizing and implementing reconciliation in post-conflict contexts? I will make the case for a nuanced understanding and approaches to reconciliation that takes into account the history, context, cultures, and politics by sequencing various contradictory components of reconciliation leading to an imperfect peace. I will therefore argue for sequential approaches to reconciliation within a transitional process.
Abstract
Conflicts are a common feature and reality in human relations. In all societies, conflicts exist in an explicitly visible form and many time they lie beneath the soil (deep-seated) waiting for an opportune moment to come to surface. Deep-seated conflicts may not be readily visible yet are present at the sub-strata level in society. Conflicts also occur at various levels - personal, interpersonal, societal, and international. In this research essay, I will discuss the concept of reconciliation and situate my analysis within the body of literature in transitional justice. According to the International Center for Transitional Justice, transitional justice is “set of judicial and non-judicial measures that have been implemented by different countries in order to redress the legacies of massive human rights abuses.” The four core pillars of the field include, criminal prosecutions, reparations, institutional reform, and truth commissions. The paper is organized around three key questions in the subject of reconciliation and its conceptualization. How is reconciliation conceptualized in academic literature? In the immediate aftermath of conflict, reconciliation is evoked as a mechanism and process of dealing with the past. What are the key components of reconciliation identified in scholarship? Finally, what are the challenges associated with conceptualizing and implementing reconciliation in post-conflict contexts? I will make the case for a nuanced understanding and approaches to reconciliation that takes into account the history, context, cultures, and politics by sequencing various contradictory components of reconciliation leading to an imperfect peace. I will therefore argue for sequential approaches to reconciliation within a transitional process.
Reference: Zambakari, C. (2018). Zambakari, C. D. (2018). Conceptualizing Reconciliation in Transitional Processes. Peace Review, 30(3), 373-381. doi:10.1080/10402659.2018.1496996
Reconfiguring Public Life: Refugee Education as Joint Inquiry
Dr. Elenore Long (Arizona State University) and Tarnjeet Kaur Kang (PhD Candidate at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Abstract
The initiative featured here constructs a partnership between a refugee community with roots in South Sudan and the United States’s largest university writing program in an international resettlement city. The initiative positions inquiry, as a premise for authentic learning, in public as a participatory practice; it approaches difference as a resource for joint problem-solving. Here, inquiry is something both public-workers- in-training and adult refugee learners do together—with one another and a host of other stakeholders with vested interests in the capacity of public institutions to become more responsive to diverse constituents resettling in Phoenix, Arizona, under conditions of forced migration. The research is presented across four phases. In counterpoint to the prevailing narrative of South Sudanese as a people “in need,” the culmination of the chapter presents interviews with citizens across South Sudan. These interviews bear witness to communities’ self-determination that instead casts education not only as their responsibility but also their desire—one to which they have historically committed significant resources. In this fourth phase, findings with community members in South Sudan are put in conversation with the previous three phases where South Sudanese refugees tell of their encounters with credentialing institutions in Phoenix.
Abstract
The initiative featured here constructs a partnership between a refugee community with roots in South Sudan and the United States’s largest university writing program in an international resettlement city. The initiative positions inquiry, as a premise for authentic learning, in public as a participatory practice; it approaches difference as a resource for joint problem-solving. Here, inquiry is something both public-workers- in-training and adult refugee learners do together—with one another and a host of other stakeholders with vested interests in the capacity of public institutions to become more responsive to diverse constituents resettling in Phoenix, Arizona, under conditions of forced migration. The research is presented across four phases. In counterpoint to the prevailing narrative of South Sudanese as a people “in need,” the culmination of the chapter presents interviews with citizens across South Sudan. These interviews bear witness to communities’ self-determination that instead casts education not only as their responsibility but also their desire—one to which they have historically committed significant resources. In this fourth phase, findings with community members in South Sudan are put in conversation with the previous three phases where South Sudanese refugees tell of their encounters with credentialing institutions in Phoenix.
Reference: Long, E. & Kang, T.K. (2018). Reconfiguring Public Life: Refugee Education as Joint Inquiry. In Blessinger, P. & Sengupta, E. (Eds.), Refugee Education: Integration and Acceptance of Refugees in Mainstream Society. West Yorkshire, UK: Emerald Group.
Somalia in the Age of the War on Terror: An Analysis of Violent Events and International Intervention between 2007 and 2017
Dr. Christopher D. Zambakari (The Zambakari Advisory), Richard Rivera (The Zambakari Advisory)
Abstract
We investigated the location and frequency of violent events and U.S. covert operations in Somalia. Results showed that battles and violent events were by far the most common event type (86.1%). Battles and violent events were also more concentrated in the southern regions of Somalia, while a little over half (52.5%) of the events in Somalia involved political or ethnic militia. The frequency of U.S. strikes in Somalia stayed consistent from 2007-2014, but increased substantially in 2015 (23%) and 2016 (25%), accounting for nearly half of the U.S. strikes in Somalia from 2007 to 2016. Our analysis showed that air strikes were the most common operation type (95%). The majority of the U.S. air operations occurred in the southern part of Somalia, corresponding to a greater number of violent events. While U.S. operations have been expensive, their attempts to solve the political problems of Somalia have backfired.
Abstract
We investigated the location and frequency of violent events and U.S. covert operations in Somalia. Results showed that battles and violent events were by far the most common event type (86.1%). Battles and violent events were also more concentrated in the southern regions of Somalia, while a little over half (52.5%) of the events in Somalia involved political or ethnic militia. The frequency of U.S. strikes in Somalia stayed consistent from 2007-2014, but increased substantially in 2015 (23%) and 2016 (25%), accounting for nearly half of the U.S. strikes in Somalia from 2007 to 2016. Our analysis showed that air strikes were the most common operation type (95%). The majority of the U.S. air operations occurred in the southern part of Somalia, corresponding to a greater number of violent events. While U.S. operations have been expensive, their attempts to solve the political problems of Somalia have backfired.
Reference: Zambakari, C., & Rivera, R. (2019). Somalia in the Age of the War on Terror: An Analysis of Violent Events and International Intervention between 2007 and 2017. Georgetown Public Policy Review, 24(1. Accessible from http://www.gpprspring.com/somalia-in-the-age-of-the-war-on-terror-an-analysis-of-violent-events-and-international-intervention-between-2007-and-2017), 98-117.