Human Rights Activism: The Catalyst of Transitional Justice?

This thesis demonstrates the essential role human rights activists play in the process of transitional justice. Through an analysis of the conceptualizations of transitional justice, in which I argue we must understand the process in broader terms that include both judicial and non-judicial practices, I enter into a comparative analysis of the case studies of Argentina and Spain. I explore Argentina's Dirty War and the wound that was subsequently created. I question how this wound came to be and how the country chose to deal with it. I then turn my attention to the case of Spain, who unlike Argentina, did not undergo a formal process of transitional justice. Here, I analyze the informal process of transitional justice that occurred and the work of human rights activists in this process, looking to the possibility of a formal process similar to Argentina perhaps occurring in the future. I conclude my thesis by raising the question: what can we learn from the cases of Argentina and Spain and how can we apply this to the United States, who has not undergone a process of transitional justice but seems to be looking to engage with one?