Explosive aftermaths: Reassembling transnational memory- and policyscapes of victims and terrorism in the United Kingdom

Abstract

This article discusses how multilevel ‘policyscapes’ and complex temporalities of ‘memoryscapes’ are assembled to reshape the categories and dynamics of terrorism and victimhood in the context of the United Kingdom. It specifically examines a case where unionist politicians from Northern Ireland are seeking to realign memory – and policyscapes through integrating diverging transnational policy narratives on victims and terrorism in debates on the Libyan Asset Freeze Bill in the UK Houses of Parliament. It is argued that these particular parliamentary interventions work to transcend the parameters of a peace process which otherwise prevent unionists from asserting a particular interpretation of conflict in Northern Ireland. Repositioning Northern Ireland in relation to the contemporary ‘War on Terror’ allows them to reassemble a bounded British mnemonic community. Theoretically, the article sets out a framework for an empirical study of memory – and policyscapes that conceptualizes dimensions of transnationalism as both intra-state and interstate dynamics.