ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the debate on transitional justice and discusses the potential of different approaches against the background of peace-building and conflict transformation. It argues that the concepts of transitional justice and reconciliation should be seen as complementary in order to open spaces for reconciliation and conflict transformation in postwar societies. The academic discourse has moved on in the sense that transitional justice and reconciliation are increasingly seen as complementary rather than competing concepts. Quantitative approaches aiming to measure effects of transitional justice mechanisms will in most cases not be appropriate, as these can only be assessed over a longer time frame decades or generations. Case studies based on qualitative approaches can provide important insights and help to systematise the complex demands and thereby prevent external peacebuilders from rushing into action while upholding unrealistic expectations. Finally, to fill the aforementioned research gaps, the views of those affected need to be included more systematically.
