Practising justice in Argentina: Social condemnation, legal punishment,and the local articulations of genocide

Abstract

The article analyses contemporary practices of transitional justice in the aftermath of Argentina's last military dictatorship and offers insights into the local articulations of international legal conventions. Focussing on the concept of genocide, the author presents two examples of her ongoing research. The first explores the non-institutional, symbolic jurisdiction entitled Escrache, a collective practice developed by H.I.J.O.S. to ostracize amnestied genocidas (perpetrators of genocide) in their own neighbourhoods. The second example presents the national trials reopened in 2005. Two recent judgements in which perpetrators were convicted for crimes 'committed in the frame of genocide' illustrate the innovative application and effective localization of cosmopolitan law. Taken together, the article examines the way in which social agents address the legacy of past violence and contribute to the symbolic inventory of collective memory and juridical practices.