This book investigates whether international tribunals effectively deliver justice and reconciliation by examining the gap between global legal ideals and the lived experiences of those affected by the Khmer Rouge regime. Alexander Laban Hinton, an anthropologist specializing in genocide studies, utilizes extensive ethnographic fieldwork to challenge the assumption that international hybrid tribunals inherently foster democratization or the rule of law. He argues that these legal proceedings often function as a facade, obscuring the complex, localized ways in which survivors interpret justice through their own cultural, religious, and spiritual frameworks.

Experts in anthropology and international law recognize this work as a critical intervention in the study of transitional justice. Readers frequently note the author's ability to balance complex legal theory with the nuanced, personal perspectives of those living in the aftermath of genocide.