Mijke de Waardt

m.f.dewaardt@cedla.nl
Research: Identity construction of organizations of victims of political violence in Peru
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Michiel Baud (CEDLA)

Mijke de Waardt pursued her MSc degree in Educational Sciences in 2003, at the University of Amsterdam, with a specialization in social family support programs. In 2005, at CEDLA she obtained a MA degree in Latin American Studies. Her MA thesis was on identity construction of organizations of internally displaced in Peru. Mijke de Waardt started her PhD program at CEDLA and the VU University Amsterdam in July 2008.

Because of the violent civil war that was raging in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s and the reconciliation process that started at the beginning of this decade different associations of victims of violence arose. The main topic of this research is how the identity of victims of violence is constructed and used by both members of the associations themselves and by non-governmental and governmental organizations. How do members of these organizations respond to and give meaning to their experiences by participating in an organization? How, on the other hand, do non- and governmental organizations facilitate or control the conditions under which the identity construction processes take place? Additionally, the strategic uses of the identifications by both the NGOs and the victims will be addressed.