Power

Abstract

Chapter 3 argued that inter-generational historical abuses are reproduced over time in present day, for victim-survivors, for historically marginalised groups, and for the descendants of those who suffered historical abuses. Chapter 3 suggested that more powerful actors, especially those whose power was developed through historical abuses, bear the greatest responsibility for addressing historical-structural injustices today and are most likely to resist addressing such injustices. This chapter considers power as essential to understanding who is legally liable and who is socially and politically responsible 1 for addressing historical-structural injustices and for evaluating whether and how unfair structures are reproduced in the practices of transitional justice designed to address these wrongs.Section 4.2 will outline competing conceptions of power, preferring political scientist Mark Haugaard's four-dimensional conception of power. Section 4.3 applies these four dimensions of power to historical-structural injustices. Section 4.4 examines the role of national and religious myths as justification narratives that maintain existing distributions and structures of power. Section 4.5 examines power as a limitation in addressing the past in transitional justice. Section 4.6 concludes by identifying that assessing the role of power in addressing historical-structural injustices is necessary but insufficient in light of the challenges facing victim-survivors, states, and churches.