Field Work in Uganda

In August 2022, Thomas undertook a first visit to Uganda to investigate how transitional justice (TJ) standardization has played out and impacted justice processes in the country. Thomas met with a number of civil society representatives, government officials, transitional justice advisors, members of Parliament, and judges and other judicial staff to test project assumptions and explore the research questions. Although the data still needs to be analysed and consultation with other actors is needed, tentative findings suggest that some key stakeholders in Uganda view TJ in the country to be strongly influenced by standard conceptions of TJ held by international actors, in particular donors. At the same time, it was also suggested that some aspects of TJ in the country are innovative and have influenced TJ in other contexts outside Uganda.

This impression raises interesting questions relating to the broader research agenda of the project, including about the interactions between local actors, international organization staff and donor representatives. Additional field trips to Uganda are planned later this year and further into the project cycle. The project team is grateful to the persons in Uganda who took the time to engage with our project.