Call for Chapter Abstracts

Victims, survivors, and the implications of terminology

(Publisher to be Determined)

Edited by Kerri J. Malloy and Carse Ramos

Describing those targeted in mass atrocities as ‘survivors’ rather than victims,’ regardless of whether individuals survived the violence, has implications for how these mass atrocities are understood and remembered. While the transition to the use of ‘survivor’ rather than ‘victim’ has taken hold in criminology and justice studies, it has not been widely adopted in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Victims, survivors, and the implications of terminology seeks to understand the disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on the interchanging and interpretation of the terms ‘victim’ and ‘survivor’ in mass atrocity research. Further, it aims to analyze how the disciplines and fields that merge to form the linked, yet distinct areas of Holocaust and Genocide Studies use, intend, understand, and reconcile ‘victim,’ ‘survivor,’ ‘rescapé(e), and other related terms.   

We invite scholars from across disciplines to contribute chapters that complicate the term ‘victim’ in the context of mass atrocities and their aftermath. Manuscripts should pay attention to the processes by which decisions on terminology are made, who makes them, why they are made and their effects. They should also analyze the social, cultural, political, and historical effects of terminology on how mass atrocities are understood and remembered.

 We seek chapter proposals to contribute to the collection's engagement in the critical implications of the broader understanding, coherence, and distinctions of mass atrocities. Some questions that contributions to this collection might consider are:

• How might the employment of ‘survivor’ to describe those who were targeted by mass violence and genocide influence how those atrocities are remembered?
• What are the implications of a transition from the use of ‘victim’ to ‘survivor’ for targeted and perpetrator groups?
• What are the implications of using these terms interchangeably or together in different situations?
• Who has access to tangible and conceptual victimhood/victimcy spaces?
• Can “victim” status be lost and who decides?
• Must victims be “innocent”?

Some themes that essays in this collection might consider are:

• the implications of terminology for individual, group, and societal memory and/or individual, group, and societal narratives
• victim hierarchies
• the role of terminology in “dealing with the past”
• vicarious and/or second-hand victimization

Abstract Submission and Editing Guidelines

• Abstracts should not exceed 500 words and include a provisional title and.
• Include an author biography that should not exceed 250 words.
• For in-text citations and bibliography, please use Chicago Style 18th edition.
• Acronyms are spelled out in full the first time they appear and revert to acronyms for each subsequent use.
• The file should be submitted in Word format.
• Email abstracts as an attachment to kerri.malloy@sjsu.edu and cramos@ric.edu by December 31, 2024.

Deadlines and Tentative Timeline

• Abstracts due December 31, 2024
• Decision notifications by February 28, 2025
• First full drafts June 30, 2025
  • Chapter range: 5,000 – 7,000 words including full footnotes in Chicago formatting
• Final draft November 30, 2025