Local approximation to the right to justice: a case study

Abstract

The present paper on juridical anthropology seeks to untangle structures of meaning on which both victims and demobilized individuals from one municipality in Antioquia (Colombia) base their approach to their right to justice. It shows how the prominence that the literature on transitional justice attributes to criminal punishment is dangerously separated from the expectations expressed by local victims. The suggested hypothesis presents how this local interpretation of the right to justice is highly related to the way in which victims define the categories of victims and victimizer.