New Books in Law

← New Books in Law4. Sept. · 46 Min.

Valeria Vázquez Guevara, "Truth Commissions and International Law: Jurisdiction, Representation, Authority" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

Valeria Vázquez Guevara, "Truth Commissions and International Law: Jurisdiction, Representation, Authority" (Cambridge UP, 2026)4. Sept.46 Min.

Truth Commissions and International Law: Jurisdiction, Representation, Authority

(Cambridge University Press, 2026) examines how truth commissions

construct authoritative accounts of conflict, and how they account for

the plurality of accounts across affected communities. Dr. Valeria

Vázquez Guevara examines three of the earliest and most influential

truth commissions: Argentina (1983–1984), Chile (1990–1991), and El

Salvador (1992–1993), and examines how relevant cultural objects support

or counter the official account for each. In doing so, she argues that

these truth commissions drew on international law to authorise their

accounts of violent conflict, and that this had the consequence of

privileging an internationally-authorised truth over other truths,

whilst simultaneously strengthening the authority of international law