Mark Drumbl (Washington and Lee University) and Barbora Holá (Free University Amsterdam)

Chair: Alan Norrie

Abstract: ‘Collaborators, informers, snitches, touts, and tattlers rattle about in times of conflict, authoritarianism, and political violence. Networks of informers are often an indispensable tool of terror in repressive regimes. While these individuals often play liminal roles in the violence itself, and may themselves be victims, they may also cause others terrible hurt and harm. Without them, human rights abuses would not normalize nor spread as widely. Using a case study of Communist Czechoslovakia, while also gesturing beyond, this lecture discussed mechanics and motives of collaboration in repressive times. Who are the informers? What information do they share with authorities, and why? By exposing collaboration and collaborators, the lecture aims to ask whether transitional justice should speak about informers, after the fact, and, if so, how’

This event will be held in MS Teams.

Please use the following link to register your interest in attending. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/events/pl-sign-up