Closing the Books

The book explores the concept of transitional justice in the aftermath of political regime changes, particularly from autocracy to democracy. John Elster analyzes various historical instances, including post-1945 Western Europe, post-1989 Eastern Europe, classical Greece, and transitions in Latin America and South Africa. He proposes a framework to understand the differences in how societies address past wrongdoings and compensate victims, highlighting the complexities and variations of these justice processes throughout history.