Assessing the Implications of Transitional Justice Processes: Empirical Evidence from South Africa

David Backer is a CDDRL post-doctoral fellow in the academic year 2005-2006. He is also an Assistant Professor of Politics at the College of William and Mary. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Michigan. His dissertation project was an evaluation of the impact of participation by victims in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). He is extending this research by comparing attitudes of victims and the general public, as well as conducting a longitudinal study of victims' attitudes about reparations. In addition, Backer is undertaking a parallel study of victims' responses to the truth commission processes in Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. His talk at the CDDRL seminar will focus on the South African experience with transitional justice.