The politics of preservation: oral history, socio‐legal studies, and praxis

Oral history is a surprisingly under-utilized resource in socio-legal studies. This article explores some of the theoretical and experiential reasons for this deficiency. It begins with an overview both fields to date, including instances intellectual collaboration. then considers tensions between qualitative oral interviews under overlapping themes preservation, accountability, agency. The concluding section develops these arguments light ongoing ‘real-world’ work transitional justice. I argue favour flexible, pragmatic, imaginative response politics preservation more critical approach relationship history, law, politics. designed encourage collection material that otherwise side-stepped, censored, or destroyed. Such would yield benefits not only vexed process ‘dealing past’ post-conflict societies but scholarship generally.