The struggle continues: socio-legal analysis of Maya Ixil victims-survivors’ trajectories of participation in transitional justice in Guatemala.

Korte beschrijving

Despite the expansion of victim-centred approaches in transitional justice, the current literature has mostly focused on analysing the implications of victim participation in formal mechanisms. This approach has overlooked important venues, for instance, grassroots spaces where meaningful forms of participation unfold. In Guatemala, the victims-survivors of the Internal Armed Conflict (1960-1996) have mobilized in both formal and grassroots spaces to advance their justice demands. Based on an actor-oriented and trajectorial approach, the thesis analyses the experiences of participation of the victims-survivors of Cocop. This Maya Ixil community experienced one of the first massacres in the context of the scorched earth policies in the country. The findings of the qualitative, socio-legal case study shed light on the divergent – but interconnected – ways agency develops at the local level, with a particular focus on: (i) the mobilization of identities; (ii) the supportive role of civil society, and (iii) framing and transformation of justice demands.