Professor Paul Gready has been awarded a three year ESRC research grant proposal on Transformative Justice in Tunisia and Egypt.
The Arab world was
shaken in 2011 by a series of popular movements, collectively known as
the 'Arab spring(s)', that have challenged long established
authoritarian regimes. What will be the medium and long term impacts of
these uprisings? Who is driving (and contesting) change, and what kind
of change is being sought? This study addresses these issues in the context of the contested transitions in Tunisia and Egypt.
The
research is based on the following premise: for these uprisings to
deliver on their potential will require transformative change that
emphasises local agency and resources, the prioritization of process
rather than pre-conceived outcomes, and the challenging of unequal power
relationships and structures of exclusion. Such change is here termed
transformative justice. The overarching research question is: How is
transformative change defined and delivered in the context of political
transition (in Tunisia and Egypt), and which actors, institutions and
structures drive and contest such change? The research will look at
changing attitudes over time (conducting two sets of interviews, one
year apart) and document a range of voices and perspectives
(urban/rural, supporters/opponents of the revolutions).
The research includes a strong capacity building element
- training local researchers - and the grant will also fund two PhD
scholarships at the Centre for Applied Human Rights.
