Confronting the Dictatorial Past in Tunisia

Kora Andrieu examines how the concepts and procedures of transitional justice, as developed through transitology and adopted by international organizations, were uncritically embraced by Tunisian politicians in the wake of the uprising. She then shows how her case study challenges the common understanding of transitional justice as being a neutral and strictly judicial tool. In Tunisia, it quickly became politicized, reawakening polarizing debates about the fundamental issues of memory and identity.