Governing Truth: NGOs and the Politics of Transitional Justice

Who governs transitional justice--the international regime that aims to deliver truth, justice, and reparations for political violence and guarantees that the violence will not be repeated? Existing research tends to suggest that the adoption, design, and implementation of transitional justice mechanisms are primarily, if not exclusively, shaped by national governments. In Governing Truth, Kelebogile Zvobgo argues instead that transitional justice is transnational and led by civil society groups, both domestic and international.

The book draws on statistical analyses of original data on truth commissions and interviews with government officials, former commission leaders, representatives of international organizations and NGOs, and human rights stakeholders from around the world. Zvobgo demonstrates that a worldwide network of civil society groups--the global transitional justice network--leverages advocacy, technical expertise, and operational assistance to give governments the impetus to adopt transitional justice mechanisms, design them to succeed, and follow up on them with additional measures. In a strategic system of coordination, civil society groups alternate leadership and support roles and exercise their comparative advantages in information, experience, material resources, and political power at different stages to enhance their overall chances of success. Governing Truth thus proposes a new model of transnational advocacy--the burden sharing model--which goes beyond policy advocacy and brings attention to civil society’s essential role in policy design, delivery, and follow-up in transitional justice processes.

Kelebogile Zvobgo is the Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor of Government at William & Mary and founder and director of the International Justice Lab. She is also a Global Research Institute faculty affiliate, a Council on Foreign Relations term member, and a Brookings Institution visiting fellow. Her award-winning research, which engages questions in human rights, transitional justice, and international law and courts, has been published in eminent peer-reviewed journals, including International Journal of Transitional Justice, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Human Rights, and Journal of Politics. Her work has been featured in a variety of newspapers, magazines, think tank publications, podcasts, and television programs.