030486 SE After injustice: Comparative perspectives on law and memory after dictatorship (2024W)

When a dictatorship ends, the question of how to deal with the injustice of that era arises. This is not only a societal and political issue, but often also a legal issue. Law becomes the setting in which the illegitimacy of the past regime can effectively be determined, what has happened can be spoken about, and the accountability of the perpetrators can be negotiated. Law can play a productive role in post-dictatorial transformation processes – but it can also impede them.
In the semester in which the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz will be commemorated, the seminar seeks to explore what role law can play in the process of coming to terms with past regimes of injustice. The point of departure will be the Nazi regime and accounting for the past in Austria and Germany. In addition, other post-dictatorial constellations, for instance in Spain, Portugal, Argentina and South Africa, will also be considered. A comparative perspective will prove helpful in discussing under which conditions post-dictatorial transformation processes can succeed, and which forms of law are productive in dealing with complex remembrance.