The Future of Victimhood

Abstract

Abstract Ideas about ‘good victims’ reflect contests over the resonance of identities and statuses across different time horizons. This concluding chapter looks towards the future of the victim category by asking: What are the implications of insisting on transitioning away from a victim identity and asking people to leave claims of victimhood in the past, while violence is ongoing and public policy fulfilment for people recognized as victims is incomplete? How do different actors imagine the future of victimhood, and how do these framings of past, present, and future shape politics, relationships, and claim-making? Rather than treating the past, present, and future as fully distinct temporal phases that one can linearly travel through, this story frames time more fluidly. Violence, victimhood, and the political subjectivities they bring to bear blur the tenses; they link the past, present, and future, shaping people’s memories, imaginations, and claims.