[KS] Call for papers: TRC Korea

[mnathan at buffalo.edu]

Call for papers

"Implementing Truth and Reconciliation Commission Recommendations: Comparative
Lessons for South Korea"

The Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy at the University at Buffalo, in
conjunction with the Asian Studies Program and the Buffalo Human Rights Center,
invites proposals for papers on national experiences with implementation of Truth
and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations. We particularly invite
papers on the recently-concluded TRC process in South Korea. The TRC Korea
officially closed its doors at the end of 2010 after more than four years of
work, during which time it investigated approximately ten thousand reported cases
of human rights violations taking place between 1910 and 1993. Much work lies
ahead, however, in order for the Commission’s findings to be sufficiently
publicized and its recommendations to be effectively implemented.
 
Within this process, there is much to learn from the comparative experiences of
the more than thirty other TRCs that have undertaken work in countries around the
world. Such Commissions have taken a diversity of forms, responded to distinct
kinds of violence over distinct periods of time, and, given the diversity of
approaches taken, had a wide variety of success rates with the implementation of
their final recommendations. Paper proposals are sought that seek to document the
reasons behind these relative success rates, explaining the distinct approaches
taken to implementation, the web of actors involved in the implementation
process, and the lessons learned about what worked, what did not work, and how,
looking back, the implementation process might have been restructured to achieve
better results. 
 
The collection of these comparative reflections on implementation of TRC
recommendations is aimed at helping to inform the upcoming Korean implementation
process. 
 
We envision publication of these papers in one or two special issues of a journal
or potentially in a book. The papers would be presented in a workshop at the
Baldy Center, tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 15, 2011. The New
York Conference of Asian Studies annual meeting is scheduled to begin on Friday,
September 16, and workshop participants could potentially attend both events (but
note that separate registration would be required). Interested authors are asked
to submit abstracts to TRCBaldyCenter at gmail.com by April 4, 2011.