Table Of ContentElizabeth Cook displays her colours early with reference to C. Wright Mills
and her Family Activism in the Aftermath of Fatal Violence is itself a splendid
example of his notion of the sociological imagination. Mothers Against Violence,
a small, activist, Manchester group whose members were shaken by the impact
of gun violence, serves as a prism through which she can observe the fused
workings of bereavement, ethnicity, kinship, gender, matriarchy, ideas of justice,
ideas of community, conceptions of moral purpose (often mediated by a sense
of Christian mission), attempts to memorialise the dead, and much else. It is
thoughtful, sophisticated, compelling, and highly accessible. So many voluntary
organisations arise and disappear without trace, not much studied and dimly
understood, and it is providential that she has so ably captured the life- world of
one such group in its prime.
Paul Rock, Emeritus Professor of Sociology,
London School of Economics
This important and original book explores how the effects of fatal violence
reverberate through kin and community ties. Using careful qualitative fieldwork
and detailed interviews with those bereaved by gun violence, the author explores
what families in this unenviable position do with their circumstances and how
the family can serve as a site of resistance and activism. It is very well written and
convincingly argued and draws the reader into a deep consideration of these
processes. The book makes an important contribution to the academic study
of fatal violence and its aftermath, victims, families, and the broader fields of
crime, justice, and punishment. This excellent book is highly recommended for
anyone with an interest in the wider repercussions of crime and victimisation
and how they endure in people’s lives.
Rachel Condry, Professor of Criminology,
University of Oxford
Family Activism in the Aftermath
of Fatal Violence
Family Activism in the Aftermath of Fatal Violence explores how family and family
activism work at the intersection of personal and public troubles and considers
what influence family testimonies of fatal violence can have on matters of
crime, justice, and punishment.
The problem of fatal violence represents one end of a long continuum of
violence that marks society, the effects of which endure in families and friends
connected through ties of kinship, identity, and social bonds. The aftermath of
fatal violence can therefore be an intensely personal encounter that confronts
families with disorder and uncertainty. Nevertheless, bereaved families are often
found at the forefront of efforts to expose injustice, rouse public consciousness,
and drive forward social change that seeks to prevent violence from happening
again. This book draws upon ethnographic research with those bereaved by gun
violence who became involved in family activism in the context of fatal vio-
lence: namely, the attempts by bereaved families to manage their experiences of
violent death through public expressions of grief and become proxies for wider
debates on social injustice. This is an ever more pressing issue in a landscape that
increasingly sees the delegation of responsibility to families and communities
that are left to deal with the aftermath of violence.
An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and
scholars of criminology, sociology, cultural studies, and all those interested in
learning more about the after-e ffects of fatal violence.
Elizabeth A. Cook is a Lecturer in the Violence and Society Centre at City,
University of London. Previously, she worked at the Universities of Oxford
and Manchester. She researches in the areas of family, family activism, and fatal
violence.
Victims, Culture and Society
Concerns about victimisation have multiplied over the last 50 years. Victims,
Culture and Society explores the major concepts, debates, and controversies
that these concerns have generated across a range of disciplines, but particu-
larly within criminology and victimology. As the impacts of globalisation, the
movement of peoples, and the divergences between the global North and
global South have become ever more apparent, this series provides an authori-
tative space for original contributions in making sense of these far-r eaching
changes on individuals, localities, and nationalities. These issues by their very
nature demand an interdisciplinary approach and an interdisciplinary voice
outside conventional conceptual boundaries. Victims, Culture and Society offers
the space for that voice.
Each author adopts a strong personal view and offers a lively and agenda-
setting treatment of their subject matter. The monographs encompass a trans-
national, global, or comparative approach to the issues they address. Examining
new areas of both empirical and theoretical enquiry, the series offers the oppor-
tunity for innovative and progressive thinking about the relationship between
victims, culture, and society. The books will be useful and thought-p rovoking
resources for the international community of undergraduates, postgraduates,
researchers, and policy- makers working within the broad field of victimisation.
Edited by: Sandra Walklate, University of Liverpool, UK and Monash
University, Australia
Kerry Carrington, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Genocide and Victimology
Edited by Yarin Eski
Family Activism in the Aftermath of Fatal Violence
Elizabeth A. Cook
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Victims- Culture- and- Society/ book- series/ VICS.
Family Activism in the
Aftermath of Fatal Violence
Elizabeth A. Cook
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Elizabeth A. Cook
The right of Elizabeth A. Cook to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Cook, Elizabeth A. (Lecturere in sociology), author.
Title: Family activism in the aftermath of fatal violence / Elizabeth A. Cook.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020031499 | ISBN 9780367422783 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780367823146 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Victims of violent crimes. | Murder victims’ families. |
Crime victims’ families. | Violent crimes–Prevention. |
Criminal justice, Administration of–Citizen participation. | Social action.
Classification: LCC HV6250.25 .C676 2021 | DDC 362.88/152–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031499
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 42278- 3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 82314- 6 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
PART I
Personal troubles 13
1 Concept and emergence of family activism 15
2 Trauma 32
3 Recovery and repair 57
PART II
Public issues 83
4 Rebuilding family and community 85
5 Maternal grief and activism 115
6 The public significance of family activism 133
Conclusion 149
Appendix notes on methodology 161
Index 172
Acknowledgements
This book is about what comes after fatal violence, and the stories presented
in this book concern violent deaths that sit in the past. However, the effects of
these events endure long after in family histories, testimony, and memory. The
stories are unfinished in this sense and they will continue to shift and change
after this book is ‘finished’ in any sense that a publication can be. I would like
to thank those involved in Mothers Against Violence who shared their already
precious time with me. This book would not have been possible without you
and I have been humbled by the stories of loss, but also change, that you took
the time to share with me. The work that you continue to do is central to so
many lives; thank you for allowing me one window into it. This book is there-
fore dedicated to those killed violently and those that are continuing to live
with its effects.
There are many people who have contributed to forming the ideas in this
book and helped me to make sense of the thoughts and concepts behind it.
I am deeply grateful to Sandra Walklate, who supervised me as a doctoral stu-
dent and has continued to do so for much longer after this original piece was
submitted. I would like to thank Rachel Condry, who has shown enthusiasm
and confidence in my work when I have often struggled to find it. I also give
my thanks to my newer colleague Sylvia Walby, who has challenged me to think
about this work in new ways.
I would like to acknowledge the generous funding provided by the
Economic and Social Research Council +3 Doctoral Studentship (2014–2 017)
at the University of Manchester and Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2019)
at the University of Oxford, which gave me the time and space to formalise
my thinking on family. There are many people who have contributed to my
thinking during this time, provided guidance and moral support: Jon Shute,
Becki Kaur, Paul Skowron, Jon Davies, Will Floodgate, Alice Gerlach, Will
McGowan, Leila Tai, Caroline Miles, Hannah Quirk, Rowland Atkinson, Kate
Fitz- Gibbon, Mary Iliadis, and Philippa Tomczak. There are many more people
to name, so to anyone who has ever said something encouraging, thank you: it
did not go unnoticed.
newgenprepdf
Acknowledgements ix
And lastly to my family who have offered an endless sounding board and
who have endured these past few years with me.
Chapter 5 and the ‘brief methodology’ section in the Introduction to this
book have been published previously in Criminology and Criminal Justice:
Cook, E. (2020) ‘Motherhood, moral authority and the charismatic matri-
arch in the aftermath of lethal violence.’ Criminology and Criminal Justice (Online
First). DOI: [https:// doi.org/ 10.1177/ 1748895820914359].
