eprintid: 10176997
rev_number: 8
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/17/69/97
datestamp: 2023-09-19 14:00:15
lastmod: 2023-09-19 14:01:42
status_changed: 2023-09-19 14:00:15
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Barton Hronešová, Jessie
title: The uses of victimhood as a hegemonic meta-narrative in eastern Europe
ispublished: inpress
divisions: UCL
divisions: B03
divisions: C01
divisions: D92
keywords: Victimhood, hegemony, narratives, ontological security, eastern Europe, war, communism
note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
abstract: Narratives of wartime suffering, communist evils, and maltreatment by the ‘West’ have started featuring prominently in the political discourse across eastern Europe in the past decade and half. Permeating the public sphere, such narratives imply complex victimhood and often gain a hegemonic status. Why have such victimhood narratives become so pervasive? And what has been their purpose across eastern Europe? This interdisciplinary article provides a conceptual and empirical explanation of how hegemonic narratives of victimhood have been used to enhance ontological security and as an instrument of power-seeking political leaders, especially (but not exclusively) right-wing populists. It shows that although the local attachment to memory and history is often portrayed as irrational, victimhood as a narrative has clear benefits regarding national ontological security as the self-understanding of a state and a tool to justify policies. Using concrete examples, the articles identify three main sub-narratives of direct, historical and structural victimhood linked to World War II, communism and the precarious relationship with the ‘West’, arguing that the combination of historical traumas and the post-1989 transformations explain the pan-regional proliferation of victimhood.
date: 2022-09-15
date_type: published
publisher: Informa UK Limited
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2022.2110456
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2085808
doi: 10.1080/14782804.2022.2110456
lyricists_name: Barton Hronesova, Jessie
lyricists_id: JHRON23
actors_name: Dewerpe, Marie
actors_id: MDDEW97
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Journal of Contemporary European Studies
issn: 1478-2804
citation:        Barton Hronešová, Jessie;      (2022)    The uses of victimhood as a hegemonic meta-narrative in eastern Europe.                   Journal of Contemporary European Studies        10.1080/14782804.2022.2110456 <https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2022.2110456>.    (In press).    Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10176997/1/Barton%20Hronesova_JBH_Article_JCES_REVISED_CLEAN_AUTHORDATA.pdf