Description
This paper proposes a novel approach to understanding trauma and its connection to identity formation vis-à-vis conflict through a Lacanian IR lens. It does so by mapping out the unconscious as the traumatic ontology of the international. It introduces a bifurcated model of trauma, distinguishing between ontological and relational trauma. The ontological aspect corresponds to the pre-inscription of trauma as within a social structure, reflecting the inherent radical contingency and ontological antagonism in the social order. The relational aspect corresponds to the triggering event in conflict, as it is symbolised within a chain of signification, hence retraumatising the individual all the while they become subjectivised. It is therefore argued that resignifying conflict as ontologically traumatic, rather than essentially violent first, brings about potentialities for emancipation and reconciliation in post-conflict reconstruction, as identities as discursively co-constituted are recognised and overcome. The approach also addresses more on-the-ground, real-life, bodily traumatic experiences beyond traditional approaches that essentialise the latter and the victims. It applies this Lacanian approach to the illustrative case of transgenerational trauma in Northern Ireland as a result of the peacebuilding policies carried out during the peace conflict, and how identities are mutually constituted with and through trauma.
