The Politics of Victimhood

'Victim' is a complex category, and victimhood is ascribed to or claimed by individuals and groups in a wide range of social, legal and political contexts. Victim discourse has become more prevalent in human rights law and practice, and in International Relations, in particular in the areas of human security, global ethics, post-conflict studies and the politics of truth and reconciliation. The panels in this section seek to develop a range of critical perspectives on the politics of victimhood. They offer space for consideration of the political questions which might be excluded by victim-centred (potentially de-politicising) approaches to a range of issues, such as war, refugees, slavery, movement and trafficking. The criminalisation of war is one way in which the international community defines victimhood and identifies victims. There are, of course, important questions surrounding the protection of civilians and non-combatants, as well as around the protection of individuals from risks derived from conditions such as persecution and the failure of state institutions. However, the section considers the possibility that the very notions of ‘protection’ and ‘victimhood’ are constitutive of power asymmetries, not only during conflicts, but also as embedded in concepts of justice, sovereignty and agency. It explores the importance of reciprocity in relationships of recognition, and the scope and limits of foundational accounts of subjectivity, whether of victimhood, or of subject/victim, agent /victim dualisms. The section is open to a wide range of papers. However, paper-givers might consider broad themes such as the discursive implications of the autonomy/dependence dichotomy (see Brace 2011) or of the individualisation of recognition (see Staples 2011). They might also be issue-based, considering, for example, conflict, migration, prostitution or reconciliation. The section welcomes any paper addressing the broad question of what ‘victimhood’ means in the contemporary world.