The impact of the narrative of victimization: an experiment with university students in Spain

ABSTRACT

Narratives have become a promising approach in the study of terrorism due to their intrinsic value in understanding complex sociopolitical phenomena. In Spain, a ‘battle of narratives’ is developing in the current post-ETA period. This offers an interesting setting for the examination of their effects on their audiences among the growing remembrance policies and educational initiatives. This paper focuses on the narrative of victimization and its relevance in post-violent contexts. It uses the methodology of pre- and post-surveys to study the impact of the indirect testimonies of ETA’s victims on a sample of 225 undergraduate students in Navarre, a region with a high incidence of ETA terrorism.

KEYWORDS:

• Terrorism
• ETA
• narrative
• victims
• testimonials
• evaluation

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Victims of Terrorism Collective (COVITE), through the project ‘El impacto del testimonio de las víctimas de ETA en estudiantes universitarios: un experimento sociológico,’ [‘The impact of ETA victims’ testimony on university students: a sociological experiment’] funded by the Homeland Ministry of Spain. The views and conclusions in this document are those of the author, and they should not be interpreted as representative of the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Homeland Ministry of Spain or of COVITE. The author is grateful to Dr Rafael Leonisio, Dr Ángel Arrese, and Dr Alfonso Vara, who collaborated in the development of the quantitative research; Dr Beatriz Gómez and Dr Marta Rodríguez Fouz, who distributed surveys to their university students; Dr Bienvenido Leon, Dr Raúl López Romo and Dr Gaizka Fernández Soldevilla, who suggested changes to improve the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 See Victims of Terrorism Memorial Centre. http://www.memorialvt.com/en/#

2 See Euskal Memoria Fundazioa website. http://www.euskalmemoria.eus/es

3 Some authors, e. g. Anne Wæhrens, prefer the term political communities of memory, groups of people who share certain memories that form a coherent, changing narrative (2011).

4 In the international context, Spain has also promoted the role of victims of terrorism in the delegitimization of terrorist organizations, specially during its presence as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council by the period 2015-2016. The Presidential Statement from May 2016 recognizes ‘the role that victims of terrorism in particular, among other legitimate voices, can play in countering radicalization to violence, and to develop robust social-media campaigns and counter messaging efforts to counter terrorist narratives and online recruitment attempts.’ It was also a central point discussed in the meeting organized by the Spanish government in October 2015 in New York, in which victims of ETA, IS, and Boko Haram participated. See UN Security Council, Statement [made on behalf of the Security Council, at the 7690th meeting, 11 May 2016, in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled ‘Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts’].

5 The adaptation of the deliberative survey method to the needs of this research was carried out by Dr Rafael Leonisio, a member of the Euskobarómetro, a research team from the University of the Basque Country created in 1995 and specialized in the analysis of behavior and public opinion, and the evaluation of institutions and public policies.

Additional information

Funding

This research was financed by the Homeland Ministry of Spain through project 'The impact of ETA victims' testimony on university students: a sociological experiment', promoted by the Victims of Terrorism Collective (COVITE).

Notes on contributors

María Jiménez Ramos

Dr María Jiménez Ramos is an assistant professor at the School of Communications at the University of Navarre. She has worked for Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) of the European Commission. Special interests include victims of terrorism, remembrance, and prevention of violent radicalization.