Victimizers no More: The Risk of Addressing Conflict’s Actors from Binary Readings
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In order to grasp the obstacles faced by peacebuilding processes it is important to analyze the basics: language. The way individuals are addressed matters because it determines their agency to narrate their stories, and freely explore their identities during the conflict’s aftermath. After studying Primo Levi’s “gray zone”, the relevance of studying the interstice between victims and victimizers becomes evident. The oxymoron makes visible a need to rethink the concepts in order to overcome the obstacle it represents during post-conflict’s reintegration processes. This article attempts to contribute to the unleashing of static concepts such as “victim” and “victimizer” while in periods of transition. These, under the premise that notions should be kinetic in accordance with the transitioning process they are part of. It is found that static concepts have a dissonance with labels anchored to a violent and complex past during peacebuilding efforts. Therefore, the article frames the transitional justice context by analyzing its objectives and special mechanisms, while revising what is understood by the words “victims” and “victimizers”. The ultimate goal is to problematize the findings and contrast them with the concept of violence. Mainly, because it is violence the one that creates, and mediates the relationship between both victims and victimizers. The article is part of a three-set of theoretical exercises. This one frames context to advance in the first steps to recognize and overcome the stigma imposed on conflict’s primary actors. It is the theoretical proposal to deepen on how to make reconciliation more attainable.
Key words: Transitional justice, victims, victimizers/perpetrators, peacebuilding, violence, resentment.
justicia transicional, víctimas,, victimarios, construcción de paz, violencia, resentimientotransitional justice, victims, victimizers/perpetrators, peacebuilding, violence, resentment
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