Shaping the conflict · The role of judicial and humanitarian forensic knowledge in co-producing collective accounts of violence. A case study of the Colombian (post) conflict
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-06-01 → 2022-09-07
- EU contribution
- €187,572
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
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Results in brief
Shaping the conflict: The role of judicial and humanitarian forensic knowledge in co-producing collective accounts of violence. A case study of the Colombian (post) conflict
I ethnographically addressed forensic knowledge production practices as co-producers of the violence and armed conflict that they study. I attended to judicial and humanitarian forensic practices conducted currently on the Colombian armed conflict, in the framework of the post-peace agreement. My main question was how differentiated forms of forensic knowledge practices co-produce different versions of violence and conflict, as well as the actions set in motion to account for and handle them. This is because forensic experts’ knowledge puts in circulation specific understandings and enactments of the conflict that inform and shape actions such as the administration of transitional justice, memory and reconciliation practices, and the compensation of victims. The Colombian armed conflict is relevant due to its ongoing nature, and the fact that currently coexist judicial and humanitarian forensic actors working simultaneously. Additionally, knowledge derived from this project is potentially useful for approaching other armed conflict experiences elsewhere. Objectives. Empirical: (1) To explore how differentiated forensic knowledge, whether judicial or humanitarian, is produced. (2) To account for how coexisting yet different forensic practices that simultaneously attend to the same conflict produce multiple and situated versions of the conflicts. (3) To examine forensic experts’ role as actors (not just witnesses) of the conflict and violence that they work on. Social: (1) To provide elements for richer accounts of violence and conflict in different settings as forensic experts’ ways of knowing are made available for varied audiences. (2) To make visible the complex and nuanced work of forensic experts, as one of the crucial actors in violent and conflict contexts. Theoretical: (1) To develop a conceptual framework that allows addressing the differentiated world-making effects of forensic experts’ knowledge productions whether stemming from judicial or humanitarian forensic practices. (2) To provide new insights into the study of forensic practices and knowledge productions in contexts of violence and conflict that places experts as actors and not as passive witnesses.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Social and academic inquiry on post-conflict societies has focused on victims and perpetrators with a recent interest in forensic specialists as expert witnesses. Yet the way forensic knowledge about life, death, bodies and evidence impacts on our understanding of conflict and violence has been overlooked. Two reasons for this are that forensic knowledge is: 1) mainly seen as a practice that produces neutral scientific evidence; 2) mostly considered part of the judicial system (helping to solve crime and administering justice), leaving the recent work of humanitarian forensics (identifying victims of war with no intention at judicialising perpetrators) unattended.Through an ethnographic approach to the forensic process of identification I will examine how judicial and humanitarian forensic experts’ differentiated knowledge co-shape accounts of conflict and violence. And in a context of transitional justice, they give format to actions towards victims’ reparation and the administration of justice. I will address these issues through the case study of the ongoing Colombian (post-)conflict. Its multifaceted characteristics and the fact that currently, humanitarian and judicial forensic experts are both, yet separately trying to account for the conflict, provides a rich case, potentially contributing to the study of violence and conflict elsewhere.This project relies on conceptual frameworks from the anthropology of science, social studies of forensics, and transitional justice studies. It combines research tools of these areas with some of critical design. Outcomes include an exhibition showcasing results, a workshop with multiple audiences, and written pieces.This proposal includes the transfer of knowledge to the host institution and my training in advanced techniques and theories in (co)supervision of graduate students, in teaching abilities, and outreach activities. All activities will maximise my future employability as a scholar in the European research area.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM · AmsterdamCoordinatorNetherlands
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union