Pre-print versionThe paper argues that development programs instituted in contexts where massive human rights violations have taken place should confront the legacies of such abuses. Justice is an inherent part of development, while contributing instrumentally to the conditions that development requires. In particular, transitional justice may help societies overcome weakened agency and the depletion of civic trust by fostering recognition and promoting trust, effects that appeal to two main social mechanisms: norm-affirmation and the articulation and disarticulation of groups both formal and informal within society
