Familial and Life (Hi)Stories in the Context of Established-Outsiders Figurations

We suggest that case studies of life and family (hi)stories are able to greatly contribute to the analysis and explanation of figurations of established and outsider groupings as well as the collective discourses (and counter-discourses) that are intertwined with social figurations. We shall try to clarify the methods and means required for this purpose. On the other hand we shall also seek to show how a combination of figurational-processual sociology with research into collective discourses can contribute to better research and better understanding of the interweaving of individual life (hi)stories with 'objects' at the so-called macro and meso levels of social and historical research.

We shall pursue these questions on the basis of our current empirical research into the life trajectories of former child soldiers of the "Lord's Resistance Army" in Acholiland (North Uganda) after and before their transition into civilian life. In our analysis, which is focused on biographical case studies and family histories, we shall show how the everyday experiences of discrimination that these "returnees" encounter in families and local communities are different from and interrelated with the discourse on amnesty and reconciliation that is dominant in Acholiland.