Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

truth commissions  

Definition

  • Truth commissions are an international phenomenon that first developed in the last few decades of the twentieth century as nations attempted to deal with past histories of violence and oppression. Prior to this time, nations resorted to a kind of collective amnesia about past violence, but following World War II, a consensus arose in the international community that merely putting the past behind with no accounting was no longer acceptable. [Source: Encyclopedia of Law & Society: American and Global Perspectives; Truth Commissions]

Entry terms

  • truth and reconciliation commissions

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/truth_commissions

Download this concept: