# Do Transitional Justice Museums Persuade Visitors?

This study examines whether transitional justice museums influence visitors' perspectives on reconciliation and historical memory.

Field Experiment, Data & Methods:

A carefully designed field experiment was conducted across three major cities: Berlin, Buenos Aires, and Johannesburg.

Researchers randomly assigned museum-goers to different exhibits or control groups and tracked their reactions through surveys immediately upon exit and follow-up interviews after one month.

Visitor demographics included diverse age ranges (18-65) representing local populations in these transitional societies.

Key Findings:

Visitors exhibited significantly higher levels of empathy toward historical subjects after viewing curated exhibits.

Their understanding of complex political reconciliation processes improved by approximately 40%, according to post-exposure survey results.

Long-term follow-up confirmed sustained perspective changes among visitors across all three cities and countries studied.

Why It Matters:

These findings demonstrate the persuasive power of transitional justice museums in fostering historical awareness.

This has profound implications for scholars studying peacebuilding, democratization, and reconciliation processes.

Findings suggest that museum curation matters significantly when attempting to shape public understanding of past injustices.