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Dr Anita Ferrara

B.Sc. PG Dip., M.Sc., PhD

Contact Details

Lecturer
T: 091492819
E: anita.ferrara@nuigalway.ie
@DrAnitaFerrara
 
researcher
 

Biography

Anita Ferrara is a lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway. She obtained an honours BA degree in Political Science, International Relations at the University of Siena in 2001. She completed her Postgraduate Diploma in International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of Florence in 2002 and a Master Degree in Human Rights and Conflict Management at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa in 2004. She successfully completed her PhD in Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, in 2012. She has been a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Teaching Fellow at SOAS lecturing on post-conflict Justice and Reconciliation processes.

Anita is the author of the book, Assessing the Long-Term Impact of Truth Commissions: the Chilean Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Historical Perspective. The book is one of the first studies assessing the longer term impact of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.

Before her academic career, Anita worked for United Nations Agencies and NGOs in the field of human rights. She has worked at the Regional Office for South America of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Santiago, Chile and at the United Nations Development Programme in Gaborone, Botswana. She also worked at the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) as an intern of the Human Rights Defenders Programme in Geneva.

Anita is fluent in English, Spanish and has good working knowledge of Portuguese.

Research Interests

Current Research:

I am interested in the legal, political and ethical dilemmas confronting states and societies to address the legacy of mass violence.  I have a strong interest in analyzing the challenges arising from linking justice initiatives and peace in post-conflict societies.
My latest  work is focused on investigating the impact and legacy of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions with a particular focus on the Latin American Region. 

Research Areas: 
  • Truth Commissions
  • Transitional justice
  • International humanitarian law
  • Peace building and Post-conflict Reconstruction
  • Peace Operations
  • Latin American Studies

Research Projects

  Project Start Date End Date
IRC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP 2020 BEATRICE CANOSSI : THE USE OF TRUTH COMMISSIONS' EVIDENCE IN PROSECUTIONS: BRIDGING GAPS AND INFORMATION SHARING BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL PROSECUTIONS AND TRUTH SEEKING MECHANISMS 01-OCT-20 30-SEP-29

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2021) 'Archives and Transitional Justice in Chile: A Crucial Relationship'
Anita Ferrara (2021) 'Archives and Transitional Justice in Chile: A Crucial Relationship'. Human Rights Review, [DOI] [Details]

Books

  Year Publication
(2015) Assessing the Long-Term Impact of Truth Commissions: The Chilean Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Historical Perspective.
Ferrara Anita (2015) Assessing the Long-Term Impact of Truth Commissions: The Chilean Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Historical Perspective. London: Routledge. [DOI] [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2019) 'Assessing the Long-Term Impact and Legacy of Truth Commissions'
Ferrara Anita (2019) 'Assessing the Long-Term Impact and Legacy of Truth Commissions' In: The Global Legacy of Truth Commissions. Antwerp: Intersentia Publishers. [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2020) 'Restoring the National Convivencia through Transitional Justice: The Chilean Case'
Ferrara Anita (2020) 'Restoring the National Convivencia through Transitional Justice: The Chilean Case' In: Comparative Dispute Resolution Handbook. Cheltenham: Edward Elgard Publishing. [DOI] [Details]
(2017) 'El Largo Camino a la Verdad en Chile. Una Perspectiva Historica'
Ferrara Anita (2017) 'El Largo Camino a la Verdad en Chile. Una Perspectiva Historica' In: Justicia Transicional: Historia y Actualidad. Madrid, Spain: Thomson Reuters Aranzadi. [Details]
(2017) 'The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Truth Commissions'
Ferrara Anita (2017) 'The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Truth Commissions' In: Chile and the Inter American System of Human Rights. London: Institute of Latin American Studies. [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
(2021) Latin America Studies Association ( LASA) 2020
Anita Ferrara (2021) Bottom-up Memory Activism: A Story of Struggle and Resistance in Chile Latin America Studies Association ( LASA) 2020 [Details]
(2019) The Machinery of Transitional Justice, Bureaucrats and victims
Ferrara Anita (2019) Archives as mechanisms of Transitional Justice The Machinery of Transitional Justice, Bureaucrats and victims [Details]
(2018) The Global Legacy of Truth Commissions Conference
Anita Ferrara (2018) The Long-term Impact of Truth Commissions The Global Legacy of Truth Commissions Conference Nova, University Law School, Lisbon, , 15-FEB-18 - 16-FEB-18 [Details]
(2018) LASA2018 / Latin American Studies in a Globalized World
Ferrara Anita (2018) Reconciling Contested memories takes time LASA2018 / Latin American Studies in a Globalized World Barcelona, Spain, [Details]
(2017) ECPR General Conference 2017
Anita Ferrara (2017) Truth Commissions Archives from a longer-term perspective: the case of Chile ECPR General Conference 2017 Oslo, , 06-SEP-17 - 09-SEP-17 [Details]
(2017) XXXV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association
Anita Ferrara (2017) The Implementation Record of the Chilean Truth Commissions’ recommendations XXXV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association Lima, Peru, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú: PUCP, , 29-APR-17 - 01-MAY-17 [Details]
(2016) Sixth Annual Conference of the Historical Dialogues, Justice and Memory Network, Confronting Violent Past and Historical Injsutice
Anita Ferrara (2016) The Chilean Truth Commissions and Memorialization Sixth Annual Conference of the Historical Dialogues, Justice and Memory Network, Confronting Violent Past and Historical Injsutice Amsterdam, , 01-DEC-16 - 03-DEC-16 [Details]
(2015) Chile and the Inter-American Human Rights System
Anita Ferrara (2015) The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Truth Commissions Chile and the Inter-American Human Rights System UCL-Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London, [Details]
(2015) Disillusions and Accomplishments: How Transitional Justice Changes Societies
Anita Ferrara (2015) Truth Commissions as Means of Ethical and Institutional Transformation’ Disillusions and Accomplishments: How Transitional Justice Changes Societies Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Utrecht, [Details]
(2015) Disillusions and Accomplishments: How Transitional Justice Changes Societies
Anita Ferrara (2015) Truth Commissions as Means of Ethical and Institutional Transformation Disillusions and Accomplishments: How Transitional Justice Changes Societies Utrecht University, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), The Netherlands, , 30-JUL-15 - 31-JUL-15 [Details]

Edited Books

  Year Publication
(2004) Compilación de observaciones finales del Comité de Derechos Económicos, sociales y culturales (CESCR), sobre países de América Latina y el Caribe (1989-2004).
Imma Guerras, Anita Ferrara y Guadalupe Mira-Duarte (Ed.). (2004) Compilación de observaciones finales del Comité de Derechos Económicos, sociales y culturales (CESCR), sobre países de América Latina y el Caribe (1989-2004). Santiago, Chile: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations Development Programme. [Details]

Conference Contributions

  Year Publication
(2018) Atrocity's Archives: the Role of Archives in Transitional Justice International Workshop,
Anita Ferrara (2018) Archives and Transitional Justice. [Invited Oral Presentation], Atrocity's Archives: the Role of Archives in Transitional Justice International Workshop, University of Oxford, UK , 15-MAR-18 - 16-MAR-18. [Details]
(2017) 2017 Society for Latin American Studies, SLAS Annual Conference,
Anita Ferrara (2017) Chile and the Inter-American Human Rights system. [Organising Chair], 2017 Society for Latin American Studies, SLAS Annual Conference, University of Glasgow, Glasgow , 06-APR-17 - 07-APR-17. [Details]

Blog

  Year Publication
(2020) Chile overwhelmingly voted to rewrite the dictatorship-era Constitution.
Anita Ferrara (2020) Chile overwhelmingly voted to rewrite the dictatorship-era Constitution. Blog [Details]

Newspaper Articles

  Year Publication
(2019) What's behind the massive protests in Chile?.
Anita Ferrara (2019) What's behind the massive protests in Chile?. Newspaper Articles [Details]

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Latin American Studies Association Member 01-SEP-15 / 18-MAY-17
Memory Studies Association Member /

Employment

  Employer Position From / To
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights-Santiago Chile Assistant to the Regional Representative for Latin America and the Carribean 01-SEP-03 / 30-SEP-04
School of Orienral and African Stusies, SOAS GTA/Teaching Fellow 01-SEP-11 / 31-JUL-13
United Nations Development Programme-Botsawana Programme Officer-Human Rights 01-MAR-05 / 31-DEC-05
World Organisation against Torture-Geneva Human Rights Observatory 01-MAR-07 / 01-AUG-07

Languages

  Language
English
Portuguese
Spanish
Italian

Modules Taught

  Term/Year Module Title Module Code Subject / Desc
2 Semester Transitional Justice LW538
First Term Introduction to Human Rights I HR101
Second Term Regional Protection of Human Rights HR2101
Annual Applied Human Rights Project HR3102
2 Semester International Humanitarian Law LW 471