Understanding Normative Gaps in Transitional Justice: The Serbian Discourse on the Srebrenica Declaration 2010
Publisher: Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe Volume: 30 pages, pdf Description: The Serbian government has often been accused of “double-speak” in confronting crimes that took place during the Yugoslav war. This behaviour is interpreted as a gap between an underdeveloped domestic norm of facing the past and the international norm of transitional justice. This paper argues that “normative gaps” are no contradiction to the transnational norm socialization process, but to the rule itself. By applying methods of discourse analysis, the 2010 Serbian parliamentary debate on the declaration condemning the 1995 massacre of Srebrenica is used as an extensive case study showing how domestic actors use concepts of facing the past.