Abstract/Summary

This introductory chapter develops the conceptual framework of the book which focuses on three ideas and the relationship between them: transitional justice, distributive justice, and transformative constitutionalism. It seeks to highlight the relevance and importance of these concepts to comparisons of Global South societies and then explain why this framework is particularly apposite to comparing Colombia and South Africa. This is followed by a discussion of the book’s approach to addressing the challenges of conducting Global South comparisons, which naturally leads to an explanation and justification for the specific methodology adopted in the book. That methodology involves the identification of specific themes on which authors write chapters about Colombia or South Africa and then a joint reflection on what emerges from considering the comparison between them. Finally, this chapter outlines the different segments of the book and the themes around which the chapters are organised, and provides a brief outline of the key arguments made by the authors.