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Abstract

In the summer of 2020, the Belgian Parliament established a Special Parliamentary Commission tasked with launching an enquiry into Belgium's overseas colonial legacy and reflecting on appropriate reparations. It was the first consolidated democracy to establish a truth commission to investigate the historical and ongoing injustices related to overseas colonialism. In this article, I argue in favor of treating this commission as a truth commission and focus on the extra-legal and expressivist functions of truth commissions to understand potential long-term and indirect effects of this initiative. The central premise is that justice processes can shape and create meaning systems that gain the status of "truth" and can come to dominate how we understand and organize ourselves and our social world. In the descriptive section, I use primary sources to examine the genesis, mandate, composition, first steps, and reception of the commission's work, foregrounding critical voices. In the analytical section, I examine whether the commission is indeed furthering a thick kind of accountability or whether, instead, it risks cementing and contributing to epistemic injustices. As such, the article provides a detailed overview of a commission that has been scantly covered in academic literature, as well as contributing to the debate about potentially unforeseen effects of using transitional justice processes such as truth commissions in consolidated democracies.

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Sample Definition And Size

The study focuses on Belgium's Special Parliamentary Commission established in the summer of 2020 to investigate the country's overseas colonial legacy and consider appropriate reparations. The exact number of individuals involved in the commission is not specified in the provided information.

Study Type

Qualitative analysis of a governmental truth commission's formation, mandate, composition, initial actions, and public reception, with a critical examination of its potential to address accountability and epistemic injustices.

Conflicts Of Interest

No conflicts of interest are declared in the provided information.

Results Summary

The study provides a detailed overview of Belgium's Special Parliamentary Commission, highlighting its genesis, mandate, composition, initial steps, and public reception, including critical perspectives. It analyzes whether the commission promotes substantial accountability or risks reinforcing epistemic injustices, contributing to the discourse on the unintended effects of implementing transitional justice processes like truth commissions in established democracies.

Referenced In

RC Yu
8 months ago
Evidence & Public Policy

Are historical "Truth Commissions" useful? (Belgium's colonial legacy)

Just read Tine Destrooper's paper critiquing the Belgium Truth Commission.

The author argues, in this particular case, the Commission has many limitations – but still could have "expressive" value (e.g. further socialise struggles for justice, and lead to future change).

The background:

  • In 2020 the Belgian Parliament established a "Special Parliamentary Commission" (referred to as a "Truth Commission") to enquire into Belgium’s overseas colonial legacy.

  • This Commission is notable -- Belgium is the "first consolidated democracy to establish a truth commission to investigate the historical and ongoing injustices related to overseas colonialism".

I found the paper a helpful commentary on the Commission:

  • The author analyses the Commission's establishment, as well as (the largely negative) reaction of various stakeholders -- and offers her own critique.

  • The Commissions can play an important "expressive" role -- i.e sending a message to larger society (e.g. cementing values, norms). This is separate from any "accountability" role the Commission may (or may not) have.

  • While the author is quite critical of the Commission (e.g. over-ambitious, impossiblly short timelines, insufficient representation of experts), the author also offers reasons to (potentially) be hopeful:

"While acknowledging the pertinence of this concern, I have nevertheless argued that even under the current circumstances, the work of the commission could have a more far-reaching impact than can be gauged at present, if we consider its expressivist potential. It could generate momentum as well as a dynamic of rhetorical entrapment or socialization that could provide breeding grounds for further struggles for justice and thick accountability that may then have more potential to disrupt the status quo, lead to more transformative justice efforts, and challenge epistemic injustice."

Some quick thoughts:

  • It seems to me that any exercise like this (a Truth Commission) is bound to be imperfect, due to various constraints (many were alluded to in the paper). Some of these constraints may be technical (e.g. policymaker capacities, time limits, subject matter complexity).

  • Other constraints relate to political acceptability (e.g. the scope/ambit of the Commission, commitments following Commission findings). The author makes the point that having government backing is key, as it legitimises a Commission. And so if a society wants to initiate a Commission exercise, the boundaries of the government (at that particular time) are an implicit limit to the Commission's ambition.

  • These constraints are not permanent, but there's rarely a "perfect time". And so, I appreciate the author's effort to find a (potential) silver lining.

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