Reconceiving the roles of religious civil society organizations in transitional justice: evidence from the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Bougainville

Abstract

In transitional justice (TJ) scholarship, civil society is ordinarily conceived as a unified, homogeneous and secular entity that is simultaneously distinct from and complementary to the state. This article complicates these assumptions by examining the roles of faith-based organizations and actors in TJ processes in Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands and Bougainville. It shows that civil society activity in these contexts is diverse and heterogeneous and that the lines dividing state, society and religion, and those separating civil society from states and societies, are difficult to draw. We argue that TJ scholars would do well to pay close attention to the structural differences that exist within different societies, and which shape the contributions that civil society organizations make to TJ practices.