War and peace by other means: narratives of victimhood and the politics of transitional justice

Thesis

Providing redress to victims of wartime violence has become a cornerstone principle of contemporary transitional justice (TJ). Yet, formal TJ processes and mechanisms are not merely tools for addressing past injustices in societies moving from war to peace. They also construct deeply political narratives of ‘legitimate’ victimhood. The architects of these mechanisms make deliberate choices about whose voices to elevate or marginalise, choices that reflect and (re)produce power. Although existing literature recognises victimhood as a site of political contestation, scholars have largely overlooked the socio-political implications of institutionalising particular victim identities in TJ. Consequently, the scholarship has not gauged how these narratives may constitute post-settlement orders and the ‘peace’ being built in transitional societies.

In response, this research asks: How do the formal processes and mechanisms of transitional justice construct narratives of legitimate victimhood, and what are the implications of these narratives for post-settlement power relations and peacebuilding? To explore this question, I develop an analytical framework grounded in critical theory. The framework surveys how the (re)production of victim narratives can shape modalities of truth and knowledge production, configure power relations, and structure peacebuilding processes. Using discourse analysis, I apply my framework to examine how TJ mechanisms in Sri Lanka and Colombia produce and legitimise victim identities, casting new light on the power dynamics embedded in these practices.

I conclude that TJ is a technology of governmentality, where experiences of violence are classified, amplified, and erased. In Sri Lanka, successive mechanisms institutionalised authoritarian closure to justify state abuses and entrench a majoritarian status quo. In Colombia, victim inclusion and pluralism progressively expanded, but narratives remained disciplined by bureaucratic gatekeeping that served a statebuilding agenda. My findings point to the role and politics of TJ in organising post-settlement orders and the nature of the peace being built during transitions from conflict.

Authors: Posada Tellez, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-gw1a6mjdj
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: governmentality; colombia; peacebuilding; discourse analysis; statebuilding; critical theory; Sri Lanka; transitional justice; narratives; collective memory; victimhood
• Subjects: War; Peace; Collective memory; Human rights; Transitional justice