Post-transitional Justice in Spain: Passing the Historical Memory Law
Abstract
This honors thesis traces the origin of the post-transitional justice efforts by the
Spanish government to recognize and offer reparations for the human rights crimes
committed during the Spanish Civil War and subsequent Franco dictatorship. After
a delay of at least thirty years, the Historical Memory Law, passed in 2007, is regarded
as one of Spain’s most ambitious measures to address its past human rights violations.
This thesis argues that three main factors encouraged the Law’s passage. First,
Spanish involvement in foreign social justice shined a spotlight on Spain’s own unsettled
past. Secondly, the maturation of a younger generation that evaded the worst years
of the dictatorship turned public opinion in favor of reparation. Finally, the Law
was introduced under opportune political circumstances and encompassed minimal reparations
to receive the necessary congressional vote.
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
Public Policy StudiesPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8311Citation
Hajji, Nadia (2014). Post-transitional Justice in Spain: Passing the Historical Memory Law. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/8311.Collections
More Info
Show full item record
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Rights for Collection: Undergraduate Honors Theses and Student papers
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info