The Ethics of Victimhood: How Victimhood Can Be a Positive Political Resource

Abstract

This dissertation develops a normative theory of victimhood that reclaims its politicalpotential while addressing its ethical complexity. Challenging dominant views that portray victimhood as politically disempowering or destructive, I argue that, when engaged responsibly, victimhood can serve as a valuable political resource in resisting oppression. Grounded in the acknowledgment of universal human vulnerability, I conceptualize victimhood as a dynamic recognition of the unequal distribution of vulnerability experiences, rather than as a fixed identity. This recognition can enhance victims’ political agency and enable affective communication, thereby contributing to collective resistance. Building on this account, I propose a normative framework for evaluating how victims engage their suffering and victim status. Rejecting both non-evaluative approaches and frameworks that focus solely on the imperative to avoid political uses of victimhood, I argue that victims may bear political responsibilities to engage their victimhood in ways that align with resistance to their oppression. To support this claim, I develop three model evaluative tests, accompanied by qualifying conditions that account for differences in types of harm, epistemic capacity, and social position within power structures. By reorienting ethical discourse on victimhood toward the political goal of undermining injustice, this dissertation offers a politically intentional ethics that guides, supports, and carefully assesses victims’ efforts to mobilize their suffering for transformative political action.