Visual Reconciliation in Transitional Societies

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: 8,0, University of Groningen, language: English, abstract: This paper underlines the importance of an incorporation of visual methodology into the study of transitional justice. It makes an argument for that through the assessment of visual displays on the peace walls as commemoration space in Northern Ireland, relating the reflections of the local transitional justice process to reconciliation in the country. Transitional justice uses a combination of judicial and non-judicial means to achieve its goal. Typically, there are five tools that can be used in a transitional justice process. They include institutional reform, truth, reparations, amnesties or prosecutions and reconciliation. While all can be important, tools are usually tailored individually for different transitional societies. While this paper underlines the importance of an incorporation of visual methodology into the study of transitional justice and makes an argument for that through the assessment of the peace walls as commemoration space in Northern Ireland, it can only be a starting point. Studying reconciliation through the visual analysis of space in transitional societies can be an important tool for transitional justice and this paper makes an argument for more integration of it into the field.