Surviving State-Led Disaster: The Legacies of Hillsborough

Abstract

This article explores the trajectories of survival in the aftermath of state-led disaster. In particular, it considers how survivors have experienced and understood their survival from the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and its subsequent injustices. Drawing upon interviews and conversations with those who experienced the disaster, as well as with key professional informants, it critically examines the factors that assist or inhibit survival attempts. The article shows that survival significantly depends upon wider official and social responses to survivors. Survival is a continual process, and responses towards survivors can support quality of life but also cause re-victimization and retraumatization.