Authority, discourse and the construction of victimhood

ABSTRACT

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru has been a fundamental tool in the healing of the nation in the aftermath of the brutal period of war and authoritarian rule in the 80s and 90s. This paper explores the authority of the TRC to produce coherent and representative narratives for the so-called voiceless, marginalised victims of that violence. The complex relationship between the power and the production of victimhood led Asháninka victims of the violence to appropriate discursive narratives of violence. Such an appropriation local project of empowerment. Victimhood, this defined, provides these groups with the authority required for inclusion in the state and ultimately a manifestation of future goals.

KEYWORDS:

• Recognition
• reconciliation
• discourse
• memory
• identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.