Claims to ignorance as a form of participation in transitional justice
| Author | Ivor Sokolić |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00108367221090111 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/00108367221090111
Cooperation and Conflict
2023, Vol. 58(1) 102 –128
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/00108367221090111
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Claims to ignorance as a
form of participation in
transitional justice
Ivor Sokolić
Abstract
Transitional justice is premised on participation that allows local publics to construct, critique
and have some ownership over the process. The current scholarship assumes that individuals
openly express their views of the process, or that they remain silent. The scholarship has
neglected a third, significant form of participation: active withholding of views by saying ‘I don’t
know’. This article examines such claims to ignorance and argues that they can provide insight
into participation. While both qualitative and quantitative researchers of transitional justice
have observed a pervasive pattern of high ‘don’t know’ responses, such claims to ignorance have
not been studied. This article develops a theoretical framework that shows that ‘don’t know’
responses are a valuable source of information and argues that they are often an expression
of a lack of willingness to respond, rather than genuine ignorance. Drawing on an original
corpus of data collected through inter-ethnic focus groups and surveys conducted in four
former Yugoslav countries, the study demonstrates how claims to ignorance are constructed
as novel manifestations of resistance, restraint or disentitlement. These point to a rejection
of transitional justice, which needs to be addressed if individuals are to feel like legitimate
participants in the process.
Keywords
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), participation, peacebuilding,
silence, transitional justice
Meaningful participation in transitional justice by local publics is crucial to making the
process more democratic, more legitimate and more accountable to the public (Vinck and
Pham, 2008). Such participation is premised on local publics helping construct and cri-
tique transitional justice and its mechanisms, thus integrating public feedback into the
work of transitional justice.1 Scholars of transitional justice have for this reason written
extensively about how individuals participate in the process by examining the views they
Corresponding author:
Ivor Sokolić, University of Hertfordshire, De Havilland Campus, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK.
Email: i.sokolic@herts.ac.uk
1090111CAC0010.1177/00108367221090111Cooperation and ConflictSokolić
research-article2022
Article
Sokolić 103
express (in other words, what they say). Now, there is a growing scholarship on partici-
pation in transitional justice through silence (in other words, when they say nothing at
all). I propose that there is a third, thus far ignored form of participation: claims to igno-
rance. This participation is an active withholding of views, but not through silence,
instead by saying ‘I don’t know’ outright.
This article examines claims to ignorance, such as ‘don’t know’ statements, as a form
of participation that has so far been ignored in studies of transitional justice. These
responses sometimes make up a significant proportion of answers to questions, but their
meaning and implication remain neglected and little understood. I argue that much like
expressions of views or silence, claims to ignorance actually display knowledge, aware-
ness and opinion. What we lack is an appropriate framework within which to analyse
such responses. This article asks, what do claims to ignorance in transitional justice, such
as ‘don’t know’ statements, mean? And, what do claims to ignorance tell us about how
individuals participate in transitional justice?
The article regards post-conflict transitional justice as a broad social, cultural and
political process (Gready and Robins, 2014: 340). The participation of ordinary individu-
als at the local level is crucial to its success, since ‘in transitional justice, as elsewhere,
all politics is local’ (Arriaza and Roht-Arriaza, 2008: 153). Researchers studying politi-
cal participation have long recognised the significance of ‘don’t know’ answers and their
broader implication for understanding political processes (Gilljam and Granberg, 1993:
348). Most importantly, they show that ‘don’t know’ responses should be treated as
sources of information, rather than simply challenges to overcome. The responses can be
a question of willingness, rather than skill, and may indicate political abstention
(Laurison, 2015: 930). ‘Don’t know’ responses therefore conceal a good deal of knowl-
edge about transitional justice.
The article next discusses the prevalence of claims to ignorance in transitional justice
research. This is followed by a discussion of the theoretical basis on which to interpret
claims to ignorance. The subsequent analysis is based on survey and focus group data from
Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia. These show how claims to ignorance
can be interpreted as a form of participation in transitional justice.
The prevalence of ‘don’t know’ responses in transitional
justice research
High rates of ‘don’t know’ responses are prevalent across much of transitional justice
research. Surveys consistently find that particular questions or particular groups of
respondents give a high proportion of ‘don’t know’ or ‘no response’ answers, even when
it seems reasonable that everyone may have an opinion on the topic (see, for example,
Aguilar et al., 2011; De Juan and Koos, 2021; Gibson, 2005; UNDP, 2012). A series of
surveys conducted by IPSOS in Bosnia-Herzegovina (IPSOS Strategic Marketing/
Belgrade Human Rights Centre, 2012a), Croatia (IPSOS Strategic Marketing/Belgrade
Human Rights Centre, 2012b) and Serbia (IPSOS Strategic Marketing/Belgrade Human
Rights Centre, 2009), which are also replicated in this study, illustrate this (Table 1).
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