Land and the limits of liberal legalism
Property, transitional justice and non-reformist reforms in post-apartheid South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11904077 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Matthew Evans (0000-0002-6464-5161, University of the Witwatersrand, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 170 |
| Publication date | 2021-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Review of African Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0305-6244 • E-ISSN: 1740-1720 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03056244.2021.1987209 |
| OpenAlex | W3198934681 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 32 |
Critical scholarship on transitional justice, in Africa and globally, has drawn attention both to limits of liberalism and legalism (such as inattention to structural injustices) and to normatively more expansive – transformative, and even revolutionary – approaches to justice. Focusing particularly on South Africa, this debate piece considers the roles of liberal property relations and conceptions of the rule of law in producing and maintaining injustices related to land and property in (post-)transitional societies in Africa and beyond. Moreover, the extent to which transitional justice might contribute to revolutionary aspirations of overcoming capitalist social and economic relations (as espoused, at least rhetorically, by liberation movements throughout Africa) is considered. It is suggested that while this is unlikely, non-reformist reforms offer one avenue by which more expansive (transformative or revolutionary) goals might be pursued, in part, in and through transitional justice
Economic Justice · Expansive · Geography · Land reform · Legalism (Western philosophy · Liberalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Property (philosophy · Scholarship · Sociology · Transformative learning · Transitional justice · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Legal Issues in South Africa · South African History and Culture
Land reform in South Africa
On Transitional Justice Entrepreneurs and the Production of Victims
From Transitional to Transformative Justice
Do No Harm'? Exploring the Scope of Economic and Social Rights in Transitional Justice
Mimicry, Transitional Justice and the Land Question in Racially Divided Former Settler Colonies
A Deeper Justice
Sitting on Powder Kegs
What Would Satisfy Us? Taking Stock of Critical Approaches to Transitional Justice
Transitional Justice and Its Discontents
Peasants' rights and agrarian violence in transitional settings
Structural Violence, Socioeconomic Rights, and Transformative Justice
The shadow pandemic
Civilizing Peacebuilding
Anticipating the Past
The land–water nexus
Black economic empowerment policy and state–business relations in South Africa
Colonialism, Land, Ethnicity, and Class
Land Redistribution in South Africa
Whose Justice? Rethinking Transitional Justice from the Bottom Up
Working-Class Power, Capitalist-Class Interests, and Class Compromise
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |