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Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace
Psychology
The Salience of Symbolic and Material Elements of
Transitional Justice in Peace Processes
Yoav Kapshuk and Amal Jamal
Online First Publication, March 5, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pac0000454

CITATION
Kapshuk, Y., & Jamal, A. (2020, March 5). The Salience of Symbolic and Material Elements of
Transitional Justice in Peace Processes. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.
Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pac0000454
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology
© 2020 American Psychological Association 2020, Vol. 2, No. 999, 000
ISSN: 1078-1919 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pac0000454

BRIEF REPORT

The Salience of Symbolic and Material Elements of Transitional Justice in


Peace Processes

Yoav Kapshuk Amal Jamal


Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee Tel-Aviv University
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

This article uses a new data set of 72 peace processes worldwide to examine if material and symbolic
aspects of transitional justice (TJ) are correlated with peace processes ending in full (comprehensive)
peace agreements. Based on models of multivariate analysis, we found that symbolic elements—truth and
reconciliation—are less salient in partial peace agreements but very salient in full agreements. When
comparing material and symbolic elements of TJ and the ramifications of their integration into peace
processes, we found that the symbolic elements of TJ— but not the material elements of TJ— correlate
with peace processes that end in a full peace agreement. Based on these findings, we argue that, contrary
to most theoretical literature, negotiating on issues of truth and reconciliation are not an obstacle to
ending armed conflicts by achieving full peace agreements.

Public Significance Statement


Little attention has been paid to differentiating between types of TJ aspects and whether including
them in a peace process may lead to different results. Findings demonstrate that issues of truth and
reconciliation should not necessarily be pushed out of the peace negotiation phase.

Keywords: transitional justice, peace processes, truth and reconciliation, conflict resolution

The relationship between peace and justice has engaged scholars therefore, such elements are better addressed after peace is reached
in recent years. Scholars note that integrating justice elements, (e.g., Bar-Siman-Tov, 2013). Some scholars emphasize the impor-
such as reconciliation, into peace negotiations could negatively tance of justice for creating an atmosphere in which settlements
affect parties’ chances of reaching an end of conflict and that, can be reached (e.g., Kaufman, 2006), but few have referred to the
importance of dealing directly with justice issues during negotia-
tions (e.g., Rouhana, 2011), which is likely tied to the ongoing
dilemma of peace-versus-justice. This dilemma grapples with the
Editor’s Note. Continue the conversation by submitting your comments puzzle of how to exact justice for atrocities in an immediate
and questions about this article/book review to PeacePsychology.org/ context in which prosecuting perpetrators could hurt the overall
peaceconflict. (The Editor of PeacePsychology.org reserves the right to chances of reaching peace (Seul, 2019). In recent years, instead of
exclude material that fails to contribute to constructive discussion.) prosecution and retributive justice, perpetrators take accountability
for their atrocities by participating in truth and reconciliation
X YOAV KAPSHUK received his PhD in political science from Tel-Aviv
commissions and compensating and rehabilitating victims and
University. He is lecturer (assistant professor equivalent) at the School of refugees. This is justice in a restorative sense, transitional justice
Social Sciences and Humanities, Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee. (TJ), which relies on nonjuristic mechanisms for addressing large-
His research interests include transitional justice, conflict resolution and scale past abuses. For example, provisions for TJ in the Colombian
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. negotiations served as an “alternative model for facing crime,
X AMAL JAMAL received his PhD in political science from the Free which is based on the social importance of reconciliation between
University of Berlin. He is professor at the School of Political Science, victim and perpetrator” (Uprimny & Saffon, 2006, p. 3). However,
Tel-Aviv University. His research interests include political democratiza- little attention has been paid to differentiating between types of TJ
tion, identity construction, minority nationalism and struggle for civic
elements and whether including them in a peace process may lead
equality.
CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS ARTICLE should be addressed to to different results.
Yoav Kapshuk, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Kinneret Col- The cultural-symbolic element of TJ contains issues such as
lege on the Sea of Galilee, Zemach, MP Jordan Valley, Israel 15132. recognition of the past by exploring the truth, recognition of
E-mail: kapshuk@gmail.com contradictory narratives, and reconciliation processes. The socio-
1
2 KAPSHUK AND JAMAL

economic element of TJ contains issues such as material repara- . . . are incorporated into the social security system of the State or
tions, compensations for victims, and rehabilitation of refugees. receive adequate economic compensation. . . .” (The New-York
These two elements of TJ are related to what theoretician Nancy Agreement, 1991, p. 3). The other material element of TJ is the
Fraser called “the Redistributive-Recognition Dilemma” (Fraser, rehabilitation of refugees, including restitution, restoration, repa-
1995, p. 71). The relationship between these two elements and triation, right of return, or any other measure that provides assis-
their influence on achieving peace have not been sufficiently tance to groups who have suffered displacement (Duthie, 2011).
discussed in the literature. This brief report fills the lacuna. Such was the case in Liberia’s peace process, in which the parties
Achieving peace, as happened in the last peace process in agreed “to create the conditions that will allow all refugees and
Colombia, means signing an agreement that marks and constitutes displaced persons to, respectively, voluntarily repatriate and return
a complete—not partial— end of the conflict. After the govern- to Liberia. . . .” (The Cotonou Agreement, 1993, p. 12).
ment of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Co- The symbolic element of TJ also includes two components. One
lombia signed several partial peace agreements, in 2016 they stems from the parties’ willingness to investigate and let the awful
reached their goal of ending the conflict by signing a full (com- truth about the conflict be revealed. One way of publicly exposing
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

prehensive) peace agreement. In this brief report, we use a new this truth is to formally study the conflict’s history, placing an
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

data set of 72 peace processes worldwide to examine the extent to emphasis on past injustices. This investigation commonly takes the
which material and symbolic elements of TJ correlated to achiev- form of a truth commission (Hayner, 2010). One such example is
ing full peace agreements. By doing so, we contribute to research the Comprehensive Peace Accord (2006) signed in Nepal that
on justice and peace by distinguishing between material and sym- provided for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The other
bolic TJ and between peace processes that reach full agreements component is reconciliation. When parties achieve reconciliation,
versus peace processes that reach partial agreements in relation- their newly formed relationship is characterized by sensitivity and
ship to such TJ elements. consideration of the other party’s needs and interests, trust, accep-
In the first part of this article, we describe material and symbolic tance, and mutual recognition (Jamal, 2001). One example of a
elements of TJ and their presence in peace processes. Then, we reconciliation agreement can be found in the Peace agreement
explain our methodology, the database, the data used, and its between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and
variables. Next, we show that symbolic elements are significantly the National Congress for the Defense of the People (2009).
more salient in peace processes that ended with full peace agree- The debate regarding the relationship between TJ and achieving
ments in comparison to partial agreements, while material ele- peace has focused particularly on the symbolic element of TJ. One
ments are found without much difference in both partial and full of the key arguments for positing truth as inconsistent with peace
agreements. Based on these findings, we argue that symbolic is that truth is subjective and not amenable for consensus. Thus,
elements of TJ are not an obstacle but, rather, can serve as a most studies dealing with truth and reconciliation processes rec-
predictor for ending armed conflicts by achieving full peace agree- ommend that TJ elements be articulated beyond the formal peace
ments.
agreement (Bar-Siman-Tov, 2013). However, other scholars who
consider TJ and peace agreements as complementary argue that TJ
Material and Symbolic Elements of is a prerequisite for reaching a full (and permanent) peace agree-
Transitional Justice ment (Rouhana, 2011). Others emphasize the importance of sym-
bolic aspects such as reconciliation initiatives, but in the means of
Speaking of two kinds of injustices, socioeconomic injustice and
“create[ing] an atmosphere in which a settlement can be reached
cultural or symbolic injustice, Nancy Fraser (1995) distinguishes
[. . .] and not merely about reaching agreements” (Kaufman, 2006,
between two correspondingly distinct kinds of remedies. The rem-
p. 216).
edy for economic injustice is a political-economic restructuring of
some sort. The remedy for cultural injustice is some sort of cultural
or symbolic change. Therefore, following historic injustices, there Methodology
are usually demands for the recognition of injustice and symbolic
and cultural change on the one hand and for economic and material The Transitional Justice of Peace Processes (TJPP) data set
change on the other. This could involve upwardly revaluing dis- contains armed conflicts that took place between 1989 and 2014.
respected identities and the cultural products of maligned groups These conflicts were materially different than those of the Cold
(Fraser, 1995). Accordingly, the two kinds of TJ function as a War period, which occurred almost exclusively between govern-
remedy for injustice in peace processes. ments and nonstate actors. Additionally, the armed conflicts in the
The material element of TJ includes two components. One is TJPP include only those in which at least a partial agreement was
reparations for victims of human rights violations that occurred signed, indicating that the parties were serious about trying to end
during armed conflict. Reparations are attempts to provide benefits the conflict. We began with the Uppsala Conflict Data Program
directly to the victims of certain types of crimes. Here we focus on (UCDP) Peace Agreement Dataset, Version 2, 2011 (Högbladh,
material reparations, namely “[forms] of compensation, that is, of 2012), which includes peace agreements from 1975–2011. We
payments in either cash or negotiable instruments, or of service then added agreements signed between 2012 and 2014 and omitted
packages” (De Greiff, 2006, p. 453). Based on principles of agreements signed before 1989. Our TJPP data set includes 200
corrective justice, reparations are part of victims’ rights to receive agreements, which relate to 72 peace processes, 67 between gov-
compensation. For example, in the peace negotiations between the ernments and nonstate actors and five between states. Two hun-
government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National dred agreements relate to only 72 processes because one peace
Liberation Front, it was agreed that “all those wounded in the war process can include many agreements, such as the four peace
TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE IN PEACE PROCESSES 3

73.00% 80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
56.00%

Percentage from PP
60.00%
47.00% 50.00%
44.00%
40.00%

22.00% 30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Reparaon/Rehabilitaon Refugee rehabilitaon Vicm reparaon
Material elements of TJ
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

% from 45 PP end in full agreements % from 27 PP end in paral agreements

Figure 1. Percentage of the material elements of transitional justice (TJ) from peace processes (PP) ending in
full peace agreement (N ⫽ 45) versus partial agreements (N ⫽ 27). See the online article for the color version
of this figure.

agreements in the Nepal government’s negotiations with the Mao- found in 44% of PPs that end in partial agreements, compared
ist Communist Party in 2006. to 60% that end in full agreements. The presence of reparation/
By assigning each agreement to a peace process, the indicator rehabilitation, which includes at least one of the previous ele-
for the beginning of a peace process is, then, any type of signed ments, is 56% of PPs that end in partial agreements, compared
agreement. The indicators for the end of a peace process are either to 73% that end in full agreements. The rationale for coding a
a full peace agreement, a partial peace agreement subsequently variable that includes at least one of the two stems from the
revoked, or a partial peace agreement that had not reached final- common condition in which there may be overlap between
ization by 2014, the end of the research period. A full agreement variables. In many PPs, the element for refugee rehabilitation
is defined as “an agreement where one or more dyads agrees to had been included in the element for victim reparations, or vice
settle the whole incompatibility” regarding government, territory, versa. One such example is the case of the negotiations to end
or both,1 where incompatibility is defined as “what the parties are the armed conflict in Burundi between the government and
(or claim to be) fighting over.”2 A full peace agreement is usually rebel groups. In the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agree-
signed following partial peace agreements, during which the par- ment for Burundi (2000, p. 12), parties agreed to “[study the]
ties settle parts of the incompatibility (Bell, 2003). ways of indemnifying and compensating returnees for property
Each peace process may have multiple TJ elements without in the country of asylum they are unable to take with them,
relevancy to the stage of the negotiation process in which it was profit from or sell.”
agreed. Therefore, the single unit of analysis for TJ coding is the One symbolic element of TJ is truth, which is found in 15%
peace process. The data for coding TJ elements in each peace of PPs that end in partial agreements, compared to 40% that end
process was derived from the original wording of peace agree- in full agreements, as seen in Figure 2. Reconciliation is found
ments signed by the multiple parties in each peace process (see the in 22% of PPs that end in partial agreements, compared to 60%
“Narrative Background” document for a link to all texts of peace that end in full agreements. The presence of the element that
agreements and for TJ elements in each peace process).3 includes both truth and reconciliation is in 7.5% of PPs that end
in partial agreements, compared to 38% that end in full agree-
Major Findings ments. The rationale for coding a variable that includes both
truth and reconciliation (and not at least one of them, as with the
Descriptive Correlations material elements) stems from our theoretical understanding
that the elements of truth and reconciliation are complementary.
We coded and grouped TJ elements in peace processes accord-
An example of a combination between truth and reconciliation
ing to their categorization as either material or symbolic. Material
is the peace negotiation between the Guatemalan government
elements of TJ were coded as 1 ⫽ reparation for victims (victim
and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity. In 1994, the
reparation), 2 ⫽ rehabilitation of refugees (refugee rehabilitation),
and 3 ⫽ reparation and/or rehabilitation (reparation/rehabilitation).
Symbolic elements of TJ were coded as 1 ⫽ truth, 2 ⫽ reconcil- 1
This is based on the definition of “full peace agreements” by the UCDP
iation, and 3 ⫽ both truth and reconciliation, together (truth and Peace Agreement Dataset, Version 2, 2011 (Högbladh, 2012, p. 10).
2
reconciliation). This definition is based on the UCDP/Peace Research Institute Oslo
Armed Conflict Dataset Codebook, Version 4, 2014 (Pettersson & Wal-
Victim reparation is found in 22% of the peace processes lensteen, 2015, p. 8).
(PPs) that end in partial agreements, compared to 47% that end 3
The “Narrative Background” document is available upon request by
in full agreements, as seen in Figure 1. Refugee rehabilitation is the authors.
4 KAPSHUK AND JAMAL

70.00%
60.00%
60.00%

Percentage from PP
50.00%
40.00%
38.00% 40.00%

30.00%
22.00%

15.00% 20.00%

7.50% 10.00%
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

0.00%
Truth Reconciliaon Truth&Reconciliaon
Symbolic elements of TJ
% from 45 PP end in full agreements % from 27 PP end in paral agreements

Figure 2. Percentage of the symbolic elements of transitional justice (TJ) from peace processes (PP) ending in
full peace agreement (N ⫽ 45) versus partial agreements (N ⫽ 27). See the online article for the color version
of this figure.

parties signed an agreement to create a truth and reconciliation separately. The findings in both models indicate that both truth and
commission.4 reconciliation and reconciliation (without truth) are significant.
Similar results were found in the three other models. Model 3
Multivariate Analysis contained the region control variables, which were found insignif-
icant. To make the model less cumbersome, we included only two
This analysis examined the importance of the symbolic and variables of TJ: reparation/rehabilitation and truth and reconcilia-
material elements of TJ, using logistic regression and the TJPP tion. Model 4 was identical to Model 1 but with the addition of an
data. The unit of observation in this statistical analysis was a PP. index variable. Since the index included the other five TJ variables
The outcome variable was the presence of a full agreement in the and, thus, had a high correlation coefficient for some of them, it
PP. The independent variables were material and symbolic ele- was found insignificant. Model 5 was also identical to Model 1;
ments of TJ. It was also assumed that other factors (control however, instead of the data of the 72 PPs, we ran the model on the
variables) may be of importance for reaching full peace agree- 67 PPs; this did not include the five PPs of interstate conflicts.6
ments. We divided these factors into those which deal with the To summarize the findings from all models, truth and reconcil-
peace process and those which deal with the armed conflict. iation was positive and significant. Reconciliation (without truth)
Factors relating to the peace process include mediation, power was also positive and significant, while truth (without reconcilia-
sharing, and the duration of these processes. Armed-conflict fac- tion) was mostly found to be negative and insignificant. The
tors include incompatibility, the duration of a conflict, and mass variables victims’ reparation, refugees’ rehabilitation, and repara-
killings. Another dimension of the process taken into consideration tion/rehabilitation, which are all material elements, were found to
was the state or geographic area. This dimension includes the level be insignificant.
of democracy, GDP, and the world region in which the conflict
occurred. Operationalization of all variables is described in the
Appendix.5 Discussion and Conclusions
Our data show that material TJ elements appear in peace pro-
Analytical Findings cesses that end with partial as well as with full peace agreements.
The results from the logistic regression model are reported in This enables us to argue that material elements of TJ are not more
Table 1. In Model 1, we ran all three variables of symbolic TJ and important in peace processes that reach full agreement. In com-
two variables of material TJ. The reason not to include the variable parison, when running the same test for the symbolic elements of
reparation/rehabilitation was the high correlation coefficient be-
tween this variable and the variable refugees’ rehabilitation (0.77) 4
Agreement on the Establishment of the Commission to Clarify Past
and the moderate correlation with victims’ reparation (0.55). This Human Rights Violations and Acts of Violence that have Caused Guate-
correlation stems from the coding of material TJ, which is not malan Population to Suffer, 1994: http://ucdp.uu.se/downloads/fullpeace/
mutually exclusive, in comparison with the mutually exclusive Gua%2019940623.pdf.
5
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request
coding of the variables in symbolic TJ. For this reason, we in- from Yoav Kapshuk.
cluded the variable victims’ reparation and/or refugees’ rehabili- 6
The five PPs corresponded to interstate conflicts: Chad-Libya,
tation (see reparation/rehabilitation) in Model 2, but not each Ecuador-Peru, Cameroon-Nigeria, Eritrea-Ethiopia, and Djibouti-Eritrea.
TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE IN PEACE PROCESSES 5

Table 1
Multivariate Regressions for Predicting the Chances of Reaching Full Peace Agreements

Variable Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5

Truth ⫺0.80 (1.37) ⫺0.87 (1.37) ⫺0.77 (1.37) 0.34 (1.78)


Reconciliation 1.36ⴱⴱ (0.82) 1.28ⴱ (0.79) 1.15ⴱ (0.84) 1.56ⴱⴱ (0.83)
Truth and reconciliation 2.74ⴱⴱⴱ (1.1) 2.81ⴱⴱⴱ (1.02) 2.55ⴱⴱⴱ (1.05) 2.41ⴱⴱ (1.16) 2.89ⴱⴱⴱ (1.11)
Victims’ reparation 0.19 (0.77) ⫺0.06 (0.81) 0.18 (0.77)
Refugees’ rehabilitation 0.46 (0.69) ⫺0.01 (0.87) 0.79 (0.72)
Reparation/rehabilitation 0.55 (0.74) 0.47 (0.77)
Index 0.37 (0.43)
Peace process years (PPYs) ⫺0.27ⴱⴱ (0.13) ⫺0.28ⴱⴱ (0.13) ⫺0.27ⴱⴱ (0.13) ⫺0.27ⴱⴱ (0.13) ⫺0.26ⴱⴱ (0.13)
Power sharing 1.17ⴱ (0.84) 1.14ⴱ (0.83) 1.09ⴱ (0.82) 1.10ⴱ (0.85) 1.04 (0.85)
Third-party mediation ⫺1.14 (0.98) ⫺1.10 (0.92) ⫺0.72 (0.94) ⫺1.16 (0.96) ⫺1.29ⴱ (0.99)
Mass killing ⫺0.11 (0.21) ⫺0.09 (0.21) ⫺0.01 (0.25) ⫺0.09 (0.21) ⫺0.06 (0.22)
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

Conflict length ⫺0.01 (0.03) ⫺0.01 (0.03) ⫺0.03 (0.03) ⫺0.01 (0.03) ⫺0.01 (0.03)
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Incompatibility (government or territory) 1.20ⴱ (0.77) 1.25ⴱ (0.80) 0.72 (0.92) 1.28ⴱ (0.79) 1.11ⴱ (0.81)
Democracy level (the year before the PPY) ⫺0.02 (0.09)
GDP (the year before the PPY) 0.0 (0.0)
Geographic areas variables not significant
Constant 0.91 (1.08) 0.82 (1.09) 1.19 (1.20) 0.79 (1.08) 0.77 (1.08)
Pseudo R-squared (PR2) 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.26 0.27
N 72 72 72 72 67
Note. Values presented are coefficients and standard errors (in parenthesis).

p ⬍ 0.1. ⴱⴱ p ⬍ 0.05. ⴱⴱⴱ p ⬍ 0.01.

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Appendix
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This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

Operationalization of Variables

Peace Negotiation Process (PP) Variables State/Area Variables


The power-sharing variable was assigned (1/0) as either PP that The first state/area variable examined was level of democracy,
included or did not include agreements on power-sharing elements, assuming that the more democratic the regime, the greater its
respectively. According to the literature, agreements on the inclu- tendency to compromise. The second variable was state/area’s
sion of power-sharing elements increase parties’ chances of reach- level of economic development, represented by its GDP. We
ing a full agreement. The mediation variable was assigned (1/0) as hypothesized that this would affect the likelihood of a full agree-
either PP that included or did not include mediation, respectively. ment. The third variable was the region, of which there are five:
Mediation is often conducted by a third party, such as the United Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia, Africa south of
Nations or the United States, which usually contributes to parties the Sahara, and the Americas. This variable is considered based on
reaching peace agreements. Regarding peace process duration, our the assumption that regional cultural differences would affect the
assumption is that the longer the process, the less likely parties are likelihood of a full agreement.9
to reach a full agreement, as illustrated by the Oslo process in
Israel/Palestine.7
7
The data source for all variables was the UCDP Data Sets.
8
Armed-Conflict Variables The data source for government/territory and duration of conflict was
the UCDP Data Sets. The source for mass killing was the PITF Database
The incompatibility variable distinguishes between conflicts (2015; political instability task force, GenoPoliticide, 2014 dataset). We
over government or territory (0/1). Conflicts over territory are use the magnitude scaling of this database (1–5) to code mass killing of
civilians.
more difficult to resolve due to practical, but mainly emotional- 9
These variables were included only in Model 3 for robustness check.
symbolic, complications. The other two variables examined re- The data source for the first variable is the Polity IV Project (2014).
late to the intensity of conflict: conflict duration and the pres- Democracy level was examined per each year prior to the peace process
ence of mass killing. Most literature suggests that the more year and coded according the Polity IV Database, between ⫺10 (totalitar-
intense the conflict, the more hostile the parties, making it ian regime) and ⫹10 (democratic regime). The data source for the second
more difficult to end conflict. Others, however, argue that the variable is GDP tables from the United Nations website: https://unstats.un
.org/unsd/snaama/dnltransfer.asp?fID ⫽ 9. Per capita GDP was examined
more intense the conflict, the more parties tend to realize the per each year prior to the peace process year and coded with reference to
chances of one-sided victory are slim; therefore, they are more per capita GDP in the United States. The data source of the third variable
willing to compromise.8 is the UCDP Encyclopedia.

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