Reparations programs have emerged globally as pivotal mechanisms for redressing widespread statesponsored human rights violations. Their success hinges on a range of enabling factors. Extant scholarship has primarily focused on advances in the international human rights framework, mobilisation by victim movements, and (lack of) state willingness, while the role of non-victimized groups has received scant attention to date.
This FWO-funded postdoctoral project aims to develop a comprehensive theory of how and why public support for victims’ reparations claims emerges and manifests – or fails to – in the aftermath of historical colonial or authoritarian violence. It examines the interaction between (macro) socio-legal context and (micro) intrapersonal beliefs in shaping perceptions and attitudes toward reparations, and if and how these translate into behaviours that may affect the implementation and sustainability of reparatory processes. To achieve this, the study will integrate conceptual models from transitional justice, social psychology, and socio-legal studies, while using advanced qualitative and quantitative methods, including text mining, nethnography and SEM, within a comparative study of Canada and Spain.
