Projects per year
Personal profile
Research Focus
I am interested in mass violence, memorialisation and transitional justice as well as human rights documentation. I am drawn by the question how do societies live together after such a fundamental rupture of social bonds and communal life? My work has primarily focused on post-genocide Rwanda but has more recently expanded to include South Africa. I explore these themes from an interdisciplinary perspective drawing on socio-legal studies, Southern and Critical Criminology, African and postcolonial studies and legal anthropology. At the moment, I work towards a book on gacaca judgecraft from a global south perspective. My other strand of research focuses on human rights documentation, fact-finding and justice endeavours troubling the assumed positive relationship between archives and transitional justice.
I am the curator of the award-winning photographic exhibition Kwibuka Rwanda and case display Traces of the Past at Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum. I have published widely on transitional justice, memorialisation and human rights archives including two edited books.
Previously, I was senior lecturer at University of Bristol. Before that I held different positions at the University of Oxford both at the Faculty of Law and the African Studies Centre where I taught on the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice and the MSc in African Studies.
I have also worked as a consultant on transitional justice and memory for various development aid organizations and German government bodies.
I hold a PhD in peace and conflict studies from the Centre for Conflict Studies, University of Marburg.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Active
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R1956SES: Can the record be trusted? Prospects and Challenges of Human Rights Documentation and Archiving in the Digital Age
Viebach, J. (PI)
24/05/2024 → …
Project: Research
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Rwanda: transitional justice after genocide
Viebach, J., 2023, After dictatorship: instruments of transitional justice in post-authoritarian systems. Hoeres, P. & Knabe, H. (eds.). De Gruyter, p. 81-148 68 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Open AccessFile44 Downloads (Pure) -
Rwanda's gacaca courts and the discovery of mass graves
Viebach, J., Bikesha, D. & Moore, A., 14 Feb 2023, Mass graves, truth and justice: interdisciplinary perspectives on the investigation of mass graves. Smith, E. & Klinkner, M. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, p. 80-102 23 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Transitional justice and archives
Viebach, J., Hovestädt, D. & Lühe, U., 11 Aug 2023, Research handbook on transitional justice. Lawther, C. & Moffett, L. (eds.). 2nd ed. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, p. 341-358Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
1 Citation (Scopus) -
Beyond evidence – the use of archives in transitional justice
Viebach, J., Lühe, U. (Editor) & Hovestädt, D., 23 Feb 2022, Taylor and Francis.Research output: Book/Report › Edited book › peer-review
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Localising memory in transitional justice. The dynamics and informal practices of memorialisation after mass violence and dictatorship
Rauschenbach, M. (Editor), Viebach, J. (Editor) & Rauschenbach, S. (Editor), 30 May 2022, Routledge. 288 p. (Transitional Justice )Research output: Book/Report › Edited book
Prizes
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University of Oxford Vice Chancellor's Public Engagement Award
Viebach, J. (Recipient), 2019
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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Book Launch : War as Protection and Punishment (Routledge, 2023)
Degenhardt, T. (Speaker), Viebach, J. (Invited speaker), Kramer, A. (Invited speaker), Maruna, S. (Chair) & Corda, A. (Organiser)
24 Apr 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
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Rwanda after the Genocide
Viebach, J. (Invited speaker)
2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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Book Launch: War as Protection and Punishment: Armed International Intervention at the 'End of History
Viebach, J. (Invited speaker)
2024 → …Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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Transitional Justice in Rwanda
Viebach, J. (Invited speaker)
05 Nov 2023Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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Research Consultancy, Transitional Justice in Rwanda
Viebach, J. (Consultant)
2021 → …Activity: Consultancy types › KTP & Consultancy in kind
Press/Media
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The Kwibuka Rwanda Exhibition and Commemoration Event in Oxford
12/04/2024
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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Why Remembering the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi Matters
01/01/1970
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment