Read the intro

There is a submerged tension in the title of this collection. Anthropologists have become so accustomed to the “politics of…” formula that it has lost its shock value and perhaps also its analytical sharpness. But combine it with victimhood, we will argue, and some of its edge comes back. Contributors to this special issue seek to understand the interface between victimhood and politics. Why might people seek to be recognized as victims? How do claims to passive victimization come up against counter-claims of agency or perpetration? How should we relate to claims to subalterneity when such claims are deployed also by states and powerful groups? How should we attend to expressions of suffering when such expressions obscure or deny others’ suffering? And what are the consequences for anthropology of sharpening the analysis of the politics of victimhood?