Grand narrative/ground narrative(s). When several truths are in tension, what constitutes peace? (original) (raw)

This draft paper grapples with the silencing effect of the grand narrative of 'post-conflict' societies in 'transition' to 'reconciliation'. It argues that there is in fact no rupture with regard to the intergenerational transmission of trauma (psychological violence), and inequality (structural violence) - invisible forms of violence - for the majority of oppressed. In turn, the invisible (psychological) and visible (physical) violence manifested by many decendants of colonised, enslaved and oppressed people are delinked from the lifespan and intergenerational effects of cultural and structural violence . It is instead individualised and coded as crime during the 'post-conflict/reconciliation' era constructed by scholars, practitioners and policymakers who render the links between historic cultural, structural, psychological and physical violence invisible.