Functions of collective victimhood
| Published date | 01 May 2018 |
| Date | 01 May 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0269758018758396 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Functions of collective
victimhood: Political
violence and the case
of the Troubles in
Northern Ireland
Orla Lynch
University College Cork, Ireland
Carmel Joyce
University College Cork, Ireland
Abstract
The conflict that played out in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1998 is commonly referred to
as the Troubles. Over the course of almost 30 years just under 3,700 people were killed and an
estimated 40,000–80,000 injured; it is thought that 80% of the population of Northern Ireland
knew someone who had been killed or injured in the violence. The protracted conflict that played
out between local communities, the state and paramilitary organisations left a legacy of community
division in the region; competing narratives of victimhood emerged and they served to inform
intergroup relations. This article will provide a brief overview of the functions of collective vic-
timhood as manifested in the social psychological literature, drawing on the example of the
Troubles in Northern Ireland as a case study. In doing so, we will focus particularly on the
mobilisation of collective victimhood as both a precursor for involvement in conflict but also as a
justification after the event. Additionally, we are interested in the superordinate (broad societal
level) re-categorisations of subgroups based on collective identities, including victimhood, and how
they can be used as a conflict transformation resource. Ultimately, we will argue that research has
tended to overlook how those involved in (as well as those impacted by) the Troubles construct
and mobilise victimhood identities, for what purpose and to what end. We argue that in order to
understand how collective victimhood is used and to understand the function it serves, both as a
precursor for involvement in conflict and as a conflict transformation resource, we need to
Corresponding author:
Orla Lynch, Department of Sociology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Email: Orla.lynch@ucc.ie
International Review of Victimology
2018, Vol. 24(2) 183–197
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0269758018758396
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