Accepted Panels

The study of violence and suffering and the subject positions of the victim, perpetrator and witnesses have long been of interest for anthropologists. This panel will explore how these subject positions are constructed in contemporary life in different situations, or produced in response to various forms of crises, ranging from events of mass violence and conflict, war, to periods of suffering induced by socio-economic and political structures. The early 21st century is a period of interest, beginning with the war on terror, the economic crisis of 2008 and after, mass displacements from civil wars, the rise of populism, state violence, the cost of living crisis and the covid-19 pandemic, to name a few moments. The framing of victimhood in such situations has become difficult especially when categories are not easily recognised in everyday life. A victim of violence in a riot may be arrested as a perpetrator of violence. Populist majoritarian politics is premised on a ‘claim’ of suffering. Populations at the socio economic margins are presented as ‘undeserving’ of welfare. Refugees seeking sanctuary are seen as threats by nation-states. What kind of experiences are produced when the categories with which subject positions are either misrecognised or whose recognition reflect uncertainty? What is the role played by institutions such as the state, the law, mass media and religion in shaping those experiences, and the recognition of those experiences, thereby affecting the framing of victims and perpetrators? Who remains a victim as a subject of anthropological inquiry? This panel invites papers based on anthropological reflection and ethnographic work that will look into these questions.