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Scholar Commons > Open Access Journals > GSP > Vol. 19 (2025) > Iss. 2 (2025)

 

Abstract

This book review evaluates Selbi Durdiyeva's The Role of Civil Society in Transitional Justice: The Case of Russia as a vital contribution to genocide prevention scholarship, which is particularly timely given Russia's mass atrocity crimes in Ukraine and their connection to domestic repression. The book's theoretical innovation in challenging state-centric transitional justice paradigms through rigorous analysis of Memorial NGO, Orthodox Church activities, and revisionist groups across three decades of post-Soviet Russia is critical for the transitional justice field. It is worth highlighting Durdiyeva's unique postcolonial perspective as someone from a former Soviet territory studying the metropole, and her demonstration that civil society can substitute for absent government mechanisms rather than merely filling gaps. However, it is important to note the limitations including the study's Russia-specific focus limiting generalizability, insufficient victim perspectives, and limited assessment of resource efficiency compared to potential state mechanisms. Despite these constraints, the book offers indispensable insights for scholars working in authoritarian contexts where traditional accountability mechanisms fail, though comparative analysis with other post-Soviet states could strengthen its broader applicability.

First Page

45

Last Page

47

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.19.2.2058

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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