Voice, Agency and Blame: Victimhood and the Imagined Community in Northern Ireland.

CONTEXT
This project will critically explore how victimhood has been, and continues to be, constructed, reproduced and contested in post-conflict Northern Ireland. Rather than denoting passivity and vulnerability, the question of 'who' is a victim of violent conflict and what victimhood 'means' is complicated by questions of voice, agency and blame and how these themes intersect and map onto competing versions of imagined communities. This project seeks to draw upon on the CI's (McEvoy) work in over a dozen transitional contexts and to test the utility of voice, agency and blame as a framework for understanding victimhood in Northern Ireland. In doing so, this proposal seeks to contribute to a more socially and politically grounded understanding of victimhood that reflects the complexities of a post-conflict society and to provide a template for more progressive praxis in the victims sector in Northern Ireland and elsewhere.
AIM
To critically examine the utility of voice, agency and blame as a framework for understanding victimhood in Northern Ireland and the ways this maps onto competing notions of imagined community. To produce a range of academic outputs and practical documents designed to be of use to local actors.
OBJECTIVES
(a) To explore a number of overlapping themes concerning the social and political construction of victimhood in a transitional context: i) voice; ii) agency; iii) blame; iv) imagined community.
(b) To conduct 50 semi-structured interviews based on a bespoke research instrument to explore in detail the themes listed above. Interviewees will include representatives and members of victim groups; ex-combatants; NGO activists; and representatives of the statutory sector.
(c) To disseminate the findings and related academic and policy outputs through:
(i) a fully theorized academic monograph, two journal articles, presentations at major academic conferences, the hosting of a major academic and policy maker conference in Belfast, and the creation of a project website;
(ii) the development of two tailored research reports/policy papers, distributed to local and international user groups;
(iii) the creation of a storytelling repository as a platform and archive for victims reflecting on these themes;
(iv) development of a short guide and delivery of three media training workshops for representatives of victims' groups designed to assist and promote effective communication and the exercise of victims' voices.
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS AND BENEFITS
Drawing on the case study of Northern Ireland, this project aims to develop a critical awareness of how the themes of voice, agency and blame intersect to create and reproduce socially and politically contingent notions of victimhood. In doing so, this project aims to move academic debate forward from, for example, discussions on victims' needs or rights post-conflict, or calls for a more nuanced definition of victimhood, to a more rounded analysis of what victimhood means and how it is utilised in transitional societies. This project will be of direct interest to academics working in disciplines such as law, peace and conflict studies, sociology, anthropology, political science, criminology, psychology and history. At a practical level, the range of policy-oriented publications and workshops are designed to be of use to members and representatives of local victim groups in Northern Ireland, interested NGOs and civil society actors, journalists, political parties and government departments. The storytelling repository is designed to be of direct benefit to victims and survivors of the conflict, providing a place where narratives on the themes of voice, agency and blame can be housed and disseminated. This project will also be of relevance to international transitional justice bodies (e.g UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice etc), transnational civil society actors (e.g. International Centre for Transitional Justice) and international funders.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS RESEARCH?
Beyond enhancing academia in a range of disciplines, this project will impact positively on non-academic users in Northern Ireland currently engaged in issues relating to victims and survivors of the conflict and dealing with the past. Members and representatives of victim groups will be the direct beneficiaries of the research, through the planned policy outputs, creation of the storytelling repository, media training and dissemination strategy. A wide range of other local and national civil society organisations working in the field including human rights groups, policy makers, relevant government departments, policing organisations and legal institutions will benefit and will be targeted in the dissemination strategy. The project will also be of relevance to policymakers in the UK and RoI who are involved in this field.

More broadly, the project will be indirectly beneficial for state and intergovernmental actors working on victim related issues in Northern Ireland, including the European Union, Council of Europe Committee of Ministers and the United States government. Internationally, this project will enhance the work of actors in transitional justice, peace building and conflict transformation through the knowledge produced and the innovative methodologies employed. Elements of the UN, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organisation of American States, the British FCO and the US State Department all engage with issues relating to the construction and reproduction of victimhood post conflict. In addition, the project will assist transnational civil society actors, such as the International Centre for Transitional Justice, Human Rights Watch and the United States Institute of Peace.

Finally, the project will contribute to the research skills and experience of the project team.

HOW?
First, this project is designed to make a direct contribution to the lives of victims and survivors of the conflict and those who work with victims' organisations. A range of outputs and dissemination strategies have been planned. First, in an effort to deliver on the themes of voice and agency, two accessible reports for local user groups will be developed and disseminated throughout the project life-cycle. These outputs will also be of practical use for local actors directly engaged with victims and survivors issues and for government actors and policy makers in this area. Second, a programme of bespoke media training workshops for representatives of victim organisations will be hosted by SRF McKay and a bespoke media training guide for victim groups will be published. In particular McKay will focus on how victims can project their voices more effectively in the media. Thirdly, a storytelling repository will be created and hosted on the project website wherein 20 victims from across the community can reflect on how the project themes resonate with their experiences in short podcasts. More broadly, the project will feed into the international theory and practice of transitional justice, contributing to evidence-based policy-making and raising international awareness of the role of voice, agency and blame in the construction of victimhood post conflict.

The dissemination strategy is designed to ensure maximum knowledge transfer. The publication of 6 feature newspaper articles and 4 blog posts will provide a wide platform for dissemination. The research/policy reports and details of conference proceedings will be disseminated through the proposers' national and international networks. Listserves such as the Network of Transitional Justice Researchers (TJNetwork), JUSTWATCH and Peace and Collaborative Development will be used.

Finally, the project team (especially Lawther & McKay) will develop their research and management skills through being mentored by McEvoy and by participating in relevant training programmes offered by QUB (see Case for Support).