Professor Colleen Murphy's book "The Conceptual Foundations of Transitional Justice" was reviewed by Patti Lenard (University of Ottawa) in the March 5th issue of Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. The electronic, peer-reviewed journal provides timely reviews of scholarly philosophy books. Lenard writes:
"It is an immense pleasure to read a text in moral philosophy that tackles a large and complicated topic, in which the author refuses to shy away from its messy details. Colleen Murphy does just that in this book, in which she sets as her task a nearly impossible one, to construct a new understanding of justice that is appropriate for societies transitioning away conflict and repression, towards stability and democratic rule. Murphy's objective, therefore, is to articulate 'what transitional justice demands' (p. 6). This task is especially complicated, because what it will demand in particular states is context-dependent; every transitional society is transitioning in its own way, struggling with context-specific injustices in a culturally specific setting. To these complicated questions, Murphy brings a careful philosophical style, combined with a clear expertise in the broad areas of reparation and reconciliation, to generate a truly sweeping and insightful text."
Read the full review.