Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives
Long-established liberal democracies with histories of settler colonialism—from the United States and Canada to Australia and Scandinavia—are beginning to explore their histories of violence and dispossession. This, in many ways, is long overdue, but the desire to come to terms with past injustices...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/8/438 |
| _version_ | 1797583242292887552 |
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| author | Carles Fernandez-Torne Graeme Young |
| author_facet | Carles Fernandez-Torne Graeme Young |
| author_sort | Carles Fernandez-Torne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Long-established liberal democracies with histories of settler colonialism—from the United States and Canada to Australia and Scandinavia—are beginning to explore their histories of violence and dispossession. This, in many ways, is long overdue, but the desire to come to terms with past injustices should not obscure the challenges that still stand in the way of any reasonable effort to do so. We argue that transitional justice can be applied to colonial history in liberal democracies, but there are major conceptual and practical obstacles that need to be overcome if this is to happen in meaningful ways. We explore three of these obstacles here that are particularly significant: the doctrine of intertemporal law, the unequal power balance between the Global North and the Global South, and national identity. If these are to be overcome, it is important to tie historical to present injustices and to incorporate, beyond violations of physical rights, violations of economic and social rights that are particularly relevant for understanding continuities between past and ongoing violations. These rights are commonly neglected even by states that recognize a broad set of liberal rights and have the capacity to ensure that they are realized, and represent a promising avenue for pursuing a truly inclusive, equitable, and universal understanding of justice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:35:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e194acd4cbca476bac6b4786d28eeb89 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:35:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-e194acd4cbca476bac6b4786d28eeb892023-11-19T03:01:11ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602023-08-0112843810.3390/socsci12080438Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational NarrativesCarles Fernandez-Torne0Graeme Young1Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations, Ramon Llull University, 08022 Barcelona, SpainSchool of Social & Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UKLong-established liberal democracies with histories of settler colonialism—from the United States and Canada to Australia and Scandinavia—are beginning to explore their histories of violence and dispossession. This, in many ways, is long overdue, but the desire to come to terms with past injustices should not obscure the challenges that still stand in the way of any reasonable effort to do so. We argue that transitional justice can be applied to colonial history in liberal democracies, but there are major conceptual and practical obstacles that need to be overcome if this is to happen in meaningful ways. We explore three of these obstacles here that are particularly significant: the doctrine of intertemporal law, the unequal power balance between the Global North and the Global South, and national identity. If these are to be overcome, it is important to tie historical to present injustices and to incorporate, beyond violations of physical rights, violations of economic and social rights that are particularly relevant for understanding continuities between past and ongoing violations. These rights are commonly neglected even by states that recognize a broad set of liberal rights and have the capacity to ensure that they are realized, and represent a promising avenue for pursuing a truly inclusive, equitable, and universal understanding of justice.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/8/438transitional justicecolonial historyliberal democracieseconomic and social rightstruth commissions |
| spellingShingle | Carles Fernandez-Torne Graeme Young Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives Social Sciences transitional justice colonial history liberal democracies economic and social rights truth commissions |
| title | Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives |
| title_full | Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives |
| title_fullStr | Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives |
| title_short | Mirroring Truths: How Liberal Democracies Are Challenging Their Foundational Narratives |
| title_sort | mirroring truths how liberal democracies are challenging their foundational narratives |
| topic | transitional justice colonial history liberal democracies economic and social rights truth commissions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/8/438 |
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