The Politics of Restorative Justice

A Critical Introduction

Andrew Woolford

This book invites the reader to reconsider restorative justice and its politics. Through an examination of restorative themes, theories and practices, three distinct ways in which politics affect restorative justice are explored. First, restorative justice is situated in a context in which political actors, as well as structural forces, either enable or obstruct its practice. Second, restorative justice is understood as a contributor to political power in that its practice helps govern individual and collective behaviour. Finally, restorative justice is described as a social movement requiring an enabling politics that will allow it to promote a justice that does more than affirm the status quo – it must aspire toward a transformative politics concerned with class-based, gendered, racialized and other injustices.

Contents

Introduction to the Politics of Restorative Justice • What Events Trigger a Restorative Response? • Delineat-ing the Restorative Justice Ethos: History, Theory and Restorative Justice • Restorative Justice Styles • Constructing Restorative Justice Identities • Restorative Justice Contexts • Restorative Justice Criticisms • Transformation and the Politics of Restorative Justice

About the Author

Andrew Woolford is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Manitoba. He is author of Between Justice and Certainty: Treaty Making in British Columbia (2005) and co-author of Informal Reckonings: Con-flict Resolution in Mediation, Restorative Justice, and Reparations (with R.S. Ratner, 2008).

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