General provisions

The Hugo Valentin Centre, Uppsala University, is responsible for the course.

Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course the student will be able to:

• Describe and critically analyse the most important empirical cases of transitional justice since the Second World War
• Dicuss and account for the most importantlegal definitions and mechanism of transitional justice and their relationship to post-war coexistence and reconciliation, while taking into account historic, political, social, and cultural contexts
• Problematise and discuss the diversity and spread of the phenomenon of transitional justice
• Understand and explain theoretical concepts of relevance for transitional justice, reconciliation and coexistence
• Through independent reflection compare different cases of transitional justice by the help of structured comparison
• Discuss and display an ability to independently analyse the terms research themes that dominate the research field

Content

The experiences from Nazi Germany, Rwanda and former Yugoslavia placed the world before the question whether it would at all be possible to achieve, justice, reconciliation and future co-existence in societies affected by genocide and other forms of mass violence. How should one deal with the question of justice and restitution after genocide and other forms of mass violence, which often involves tens of thousands of former co-citizens and neighbours as perpetrators, victims and bystanders? On the basis of some of the most important cases of transitional justice after the Second World War, students will gain empirical and theoretical knowledge about various strategies to achieve peaceful coexistence and reconciliation after mass violence. Apart from an overview of various definitions and mechanisms of transitional justice and their relations to notions of coexistence and reconciliation, the course also provides the students with an understanding of central theoretical concepts, while acquiring skills in comparative method.

Instruction

Instructions will include lectures, seminars and group assignments.

Assessment

Assessment will be based upon written and oral assignments. Students that have missed a small number of mandatory assignments may complete them by the end of the term at the latest. If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.