A Theory of Victimhood: Politics, Conflict and the Construction of Victim-based Identity

Abstract

What (and who) is a victim? In contemporary violent conflicts, the construction of grievance-based identity is a fundamentally contested process as the lines between victim and perpetrator are blurred by ongoing cycles of belligerence and retribution. As victims are incorporated into broader political campaigns, it becomes nearly impossible to separate the victim from the politics. The ubiquity of victims in international politics is a serious challenge to International Relations theory as categories of victim and perpetrator are generally treated as ‘prior or external to analysis’ instead of as propositions for further inquiry. This article formulates a political theory of victimhood driven by a distinction between victimisation as an act of harm perpetrated against a person or group, and victimhood as a form of collective identity based on that harm. It proposes a sequence of five stages that victims experience from the act of victimisation to the recognition of victim-based identity: (1) structural conduciveness, (2) political consciousness, (3) ideological concurrence, (4) political mobilisation and (5) political recognition. The article explores the stages with concrete examples and offers three main challenges for future research. First, as an identity, victimhood is more prominent in societies that recognise justice. Second, victimhood accompanies struggles for recognition. Third, victim rivalries obfuscate straightforward analysis of victimhood in conflict zones.

The Implications of Victimhood Identity: The Case of ‘Persecution’ of Swedish Hunters

“…Indeed, in this case and in that of philosophically and legally ungrounded claims to victimhood and persecution generally, such an effect increases polarization between the purportedly persecuted and persecutors (Sunstein 2002). It also leads to escalation of conflict and increased circulation of essentialist claims between political rivals (Jacoby, 2015;Varvin, 2005). This is predicated on the idea that persecution language obscures by oversimplifying complex issues requiring calm and sober analysis, and compromise or meeting-in-the-middle solutions (Jacoby, 2015).…”

“…This, at any rate, is how the concept of persecution is used correctly in philosophical and legal discourse. Nonetheless, significant value may be attached to the claim that one is being persecuted, even when it is highly doubtful that one is genuinely the victim of any extreme wrong or harm that rises to the level of persecution (Jacoby 2015). Indeed, claiming for oneself the status of persecuted, and attributing to one's political opponents the status of persecutors, can be an effective way to build cohesion and solidarity within the collective that is purportedly wronged (Meister 2002).…”

“…Indeed, claiming for oneself the status of persecuted, and attributing to one's political opponents the status of persecutors, can be an effective way to build cohesion and solidarity within the collective that is purportedly wronged (Meister 2002). It can also be a means for victimhood-claimants to sway public opinion and sympathy to their side by formulating their perceptions of injustice through an idea that has moral purchase in society and fits within a comprehensive belief system (Jacoby 2015;McCauley and Moskalenko 2008).…”

“…It also leads to escalation of conflict and increased circulation of essentialist claims between political rivals (Jacoby, 2015;Varvin, 2005). This is predicated on the idea that persecution language obscures by oversimplifying complex issues requiring calm and sober analysis, and compromise or meeting-in-the-middle solutions (Jacoby, 2015).…”

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“…Estos cuestionamientos se centran en la hegemonía de una memoria que excluye a otra pluralidad de memorias que se encuentran en pugna por el sentido del pasado. Pero también porque esa memoria produce cierta forma de vida «dañada» que podríamos encontrar en la categoría de víctima como subjetividad (Adorno, 1999;Jacoby, 2015;Del Valle, 2015). En este contexto, los estudios de memoria en Chile plantean el desaf ío de identificar la pluralidad de memorias en pugna, incluso aquellas que aún no han sido reconocidas e incorporadas en la memoria oficial.…”