ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we seek to define the field of reparations politics and to illustrate its claims to informality. We also trace the history of reparations politics as it has developed, through the efforts of victim movements to achieve recompense and justice, alongside the efforts of states to establish societal stability in the aftermath of mass violence. We also discuss the concerns expressed by prominent scholars who see new forms of state control and professional domination potentially resulting from reparations politics. This leads us to draw an ideal-typical distinction between two forms of reparations politics: one that is driven by demands for the reconfiguration of social, economic and political structures deemed to have caused historical injustices (transformative reparations), and another that is grounded in limited efforts to recompense victims in order to perpetuate the prevailing social order (affirmative reparations). Finally, we explore insights from governmentality studies and the theories of communicative action and discourse ethics to situate reparations within the informal-formal justice complex, enabling an assessment of the prospects for transformative reparations.
