Transformative justice is a concept that has gained prominence in both academic and public discourse. However, there are different understandings of the concept in different fields and within the broader public. In this paper, we identify a liberal and a liberationist strand of transformative justice as a heuristic. The former corresponds to an academic turn within the field of transitional justice, as a liberal policy intervention, while the latter has its origins within activism for prison and police abolition. Based on an analysis of scholarly and activist publications, we work out differences and similarities of the two strands concerning their meanings of transformative justice, the locale of violence, the role of the state, and the concepts’ practical implications. An essential difference lies in the fundamental critique of the state in liberationist transformative justice, which is not as pronounced in liberal transformative justice. Afterwards, based on data collected through participant observation, we briefly problematize the juxtaposition of the two strands when they meet in practice. Transformative justice, thus, allows the analytical linking of structural, inter-group and inter-personal violence. We thereby contribute to current debates on the multifaceted politics of justice, strategies for political change, and abolitionist thought in International Relations.