Justice under constraints: The nature of transitional justice in deeply divided societies

This dissertation is an examination of transitional justice in deeply divided societies with a particular emphasis on South Africa. Given the complexities of the transition from authoritarianism to democracy, a special model of justice is necessary between these two political orders. Although the ideal model of societal justice is democratic justice, it is unlikely in the transition to democracy. Nonetheless a model of justice is necessary to function as a viable transitional justice model while preparing the way for democratic justice as the eventual model of justice. In this regard I detail two candidate theories of transitional justice: restorative and retributive justice. I conclude that given the particularities of the South African transitional situation neither restorative nor retributive justice are viable as transitional justice because they end up primarily focusing on the moral/political aspect of equality while neglecting or demeaning the necessity of material equality in a society so marred and inundated by socio-economic inequality. The main conclusion reached is that Apartheid in South Africa amounted to a historic injustice which can only be rectified through a transitional model I develop called reparative justice. It is superior to the previous models of transitional justice because it gives primacy to the material considerations of justice for the transitional period. The mechanism most likely to achieve material equality is through a comprehensive policy of reparations that would aim to rectify historic injustice suffered by blacks in South Africa.