The JUSTINT project advanced the study of transitional justice by introducing the concept of discursive interaction, defined by a shift from examining individuals’ isolated statements to analysing the dynamic communicative processes through which people negotiate, contest, and evolve their views on accountability for wartime atrocities. This reconceptualisation opened a new analytical frontier: instead of treating attitudes toward post-conflict justice as static, JUSTINT demonstrated how they are developed or entrenched through interaction, thereby offering a novel evaluation of the impact of transitional justice and its mechanisms.
Methodologically, JUSTINT pushed the field forward by combining innovative approaches. It integrated Conversation Analysis, an empirical strategy that examines discourse at the level of turn taking, with state-of-the-art data science techniques. The project triangulated findings from discursive interactions using complementary quantitative and qualitative methods, including statistical modelling, survey and behavioural experiments, critical discourse analysis, thematic analysis, and digital ethnography. This multi-method design delivered a rigorous and fine-grained account of how face-to-face and virtual exchanges shape attitudes toward justice and reconciliation.
Empirically, JUSTINT broadened the evidence base on the effects of transitional justice by comparing discursive interactions across a diverse set of formal and informal deliberative arenas. These ranged from national parliaments and domestic and international courts, to social media, online news comment sections, and small-group discussions. By spanning multiple institutional and societal domains, the project moved beyond existing computational or discourse-focused studies that typically examine a single arena, such as parliamentary debates or historical documents.
Also, JUSTINT generated actionable insights with direct policy relevance. Its findings informed recommendations on spaces conducive to reconciliation through participants’ interactions or strategies to empower actors (for example, women) to exert influence on transitional justice policy formation. These contributions have supported both national and EU-level policymakers, as well as civil society practitioners. Although centred on the Western Balkans, the project’s implications have resonated with practitioners working in post-conflict settings worldwide, underscoring its broader relevance and impact.
Lastly, the JUSTINT project has opened avenues for future research on discursive and non-discursive modalities of interaction, including artistic and creative practices, as vehicles of justice and reconciliation. Beyond transitional justice, the project’s theoretical and methodological innovations offer a transferable analytical framework for studying contentious political communication in areas such as migration in non-conflict societies or other divisive issues in societies divided by conflict.
