The role of archives and archivists in transitional justice

: a comparative study of Northern Ireland and post-reunification Germany

Abstract

Archives are engaged in different ways throughout the transitional justice process. Archival records assist efforts to hold perpetrators to account and to establish the truth about past conflict; new archival repositories can function as a form of memorialisation; and archives may also document the transitional justice process itself. Recent research has begun to articulate the conceptual framework for the role of archives in transitional justice, with a specific focus on local transitional justice processes. This thesis expands and develops this work, using a comparative approach to delineate the key factors determining the role of archives and archivists in the theory and practice of transitional justice. By employing an actor-focussed oral history methodology, it examines how archivists engage with transitional justice processes through their archives. The thesis offers new insights into the relationship between archives and transitional justice and nuances core assumptions about neutrality and objectivity. Comparing and contrasting the archival landscapes of Eastern Germany and Northern Ireland, it highlights key voices of influence from across the archival and political spectrum. Informed by archivists’ personal experience, the analysis is structured to align with the key themes of accountability, truth recovery, and reconciliation. Throughout the thesis I focus on the role of archives and archivists both in general terms and in the specific context of the case study environments. The insights gained underscore how transitional justice could benefit from a more holistic and empirically informed appreciation of the role of archives in both theory and practice.

Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2029.

Date of Award	Jul 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	CITI-GENS, Horizon 2020
Supervisor	Anna Bryson (Supervisor) & Kieran McEvoy (Supervisor)