Narrative Reflections: The Politics of Victimhood in Conflict Resolution
The Center for Narratives and Conflict Resolution hosted a day-long conference on November 6, 2015 — The Politics of Victimhood in Conflict Resolution. This conference intended to create a dialogic space for inquiry into the complexities of violence and the treatment of victims and perpetrators in research, theory, and practice. Panelists and discussants looked critically at the emancipatory theories that create the roles of victim and victimizer, and consider the implications for theory and practice of a destabilization of the notion of victimhood. Here are some brief quotes collected throughout the day…
The security politics of victimhood creates a suit of armor without a human inside
Dr. Diane Enns, McMaster University, Keynote, an adaptation from Grossman, D., & Cohen, J. (2008). Writing in the dark: Essays on literature and politics. Macmillan.
Victimhood is not an event, its an identity
Dr. Diane Enns, McMaster University, Keynote
When I witness a storyline, I don’t have to be a servant to it.
Dr. Sarah Federman, Working with Dead Perpetrators and Helping Victims Move Beyond Victimhood
By retelling accounts of the Nakba, this facet of identity is something concrete in a world of uncertainty that is hostile to the Palestinian experience.
Samantha Borders, Memory, the Nakba, and Lieux de Memoire
Thin victim/victimizer narratives also implicitly uphold the prospect for “dream justice;” that is, for the notion that all wrongs will be righted, all perpetrators punished, and that the worthy will all get their happily ever afters (Hardy 2008). The inability to achieve dream justice can traumatize victims in its own right by nurturing unrealistic expectations and de-legitimizing their struggles should they fail to achieve them. Yet, even if these dilemmas were somehow avoidable, it’s unclear that “happily ever after” is a wish that should ever truly be granted.
Ramzi Kysia, Into the Woods and Against the Grain: Destabilizing Narrative in Fairy Tales
The past is always happening in a [narrative] production
Dr. Sara Cobb, Director, Center for Narratives and Conflict Resolution
Violence communicates you are not allowed to talk
Dr. Diane Enns, McMaster University, Keynote
Victimhood creates misconceptions that favor the victimized groups as innocents
Dr. Karina Korestelina, George Mason University
Vicitmhood narratives fossilize myths a political ideology
Dr. Diane Enns, McMaster University, Keynote
Enjoy what you just read? Please help spread the word to new readers by hitting the green “Recommend” button below and sharing it on social media
Follow the Narrative Center on Twitter and Like the Narrative Center on Facebook. Cheers!
