Sustaining struggles and working towards transformative change – women activists and transitional justice in Lebanon and Sri Lanka

Scholarly work has demonstrated that transitional justice processes and mechanisms have largely been ineffective in achieving their goals of truth seeking, justice and accountability in post-war contexts and consequently fail victims of mass atrocities. While critical literature has attributed this to the limitations of ‘topdown,’ ‘formulaic’ global frameworks that are unable to adapt to local contexts, these models continue to be imposed and implemented in countries, often sidelining and undermining those at the forefront of justice struggles – women activists.

Through a two-country, interdisciplinary study inspired by decolonial approaches, this research co-constructs knowledge with women activists to understand how they respond to the denial or failings of transitional justice and how they sustain justice struggles in such contexts. In doing so, it will contribute new thinking on transforming transitional justice, including through decolonial and gender theory, and develop strategies on sustaining women’s in-country struggles for just-peace.

Principal Investigator: Dr Farah Mihlar, Oxford Brookes University