‘I’m taking the monkey off my back’: Agency, responsibility, and ‘quietly’ doing ‘victim work’

This article critically examines the agency of victims who do their ‘victim work’ outside of formal or official transitional justice (TJ) processes and mechanisms. Drawing on the memoirs of victims who privately engaged with non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in the aftermath of political violence, it argues that the decision to do so is driven by a sense of responsibility felt by victims. Developing this argument further, the article posits that victims are motivated to do ‘victim work’ in this way by a sense of relational responsibility to dead family and friends, a sense of self-responsibility towards themselves, and a sense of other-centric responsibility towards post-conflict society. Recognising agency as the ability to make choices and follow these through with action, the article identifies how the memoirs provide a valuable insight into how victims explain, rationalise, and justify their unorthodox decisions to engage with NSAGs. The article concludes that TJ discourse and practice must take a broader view of victim agency so that it captures ‘victim work’ that is neither public, collective nor formal.