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

Memories from the margins: violence and counter-narratives � introduction

Journal of the British Academy, 2021

This supplementary issue looks at how informal, often unrecognised, memory practices are used to deal with the legacy of violent conflict as a way to heal trauma, demand justice, and build sustainable peace. By drawing on case studies from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, India, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Vietnam, the articles examine informal practices of memorialisation that challenge amnesia and hegemonic discourses of conflict by creating spaces for dialogue and exchange.

Closing a gap in conflict transformation: Understanding collective and transgenerational trauma

2018

If we think of the current fragile contexts and protracted violent conflicts, one feature is very striking: We are often confronted by vicious circles of never-ending structural, direct and cultural violence. A huge part of humanity is exposed to violence, which is creating its own system with a normative strength that is overtaking and influencing political, economic or cultural systems. The current international discussion on religious and political extremism and radicalisation also reflects to varying degrees that traditional” (international) tools of analysis and strategizing fall short of capturing the complex dimensions of individual and collective violence. One lens which adds a new perspective to the multiple factors that inform individual and collective violent behaviour is the one of collective trauma. Traditional (international) context and conflict analysis and strategies for development cooperation, migration work and conflict transformation ignore to a great extent collective trauma as key driving dynamics of for violence and the protractedness of conflicts. We believe that large parts of society are affected by both, collective and individual trauma, and a better understanding the connection between trauma and violence is necessary in the future. This paper explains how the lens of collective trauma broadens our understanding and analysis of protracted and intractable violent conflicts, fragile contexts and vulnerable societies and enriches strategies for conflict transformation, migration work and development: All strategies applied by international organizations in these three fields benefit from becoming (more) responsive to collective trauma.

Narratives of Violence

Biblioteca di Rassegna iberistica

This book is an invitation to read a selection of narratives of violence with the purpose of fostering global imaginaries based on respect, recognition, and empathy, especially towards those who are most vulnerable. It offers critical readings of nine works of various genres, originally written in different languages, by Caterina Albert (Catalonia), Mrīrīda n’ait ‘Atiq (Morocco), Eva Koch (Denmark), Pius Alibek (Iraq-Catalonia), Janina Hescheles (Poland), Leila Abdelrazaq (Palestine), María Galindo and Sonia Sánchez (Argentina), Arundhati Roy (India), and Juan Pablo Villalobos (Mexico).