Counter-Memory, Hope and Aspirations: A Case Study of 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack

This book explores the voices of terror-attack survivors, focusing on their experiences of hope and hopelessness, memory and counter-memory, and aspirations and counter aspirations. It establishes linkages between the three to understand how they can be structured into a framework to aid terror survivors.

Focusing on the survivors of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks of 2008, the book explores how hope, memory and aspiration influence healing and resilience. It explores the role that hope, memory and aspirations play in recovery. It looks at the agency of the survivors, public memory and disillusionment, and through narratives of the survivors, presents the struggles they go through in the aftermath of the trauma. The book proposes a new lens for understanding the long-term effects of terror events and the lived realities of those who survive them.

It will be of interest to researchers and academics of disaster management, conflict and conflict resolution, political science and international studies, as well as terror survivor communities. It will also be useful to policy makers and bureaucrats, those working with the rehabilitation of terror survivors.

Jacquleen Joseph is the Professor of Disaster Studies, Centre for Disaster Management, Jamsetji Tata School of Disaster Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India. She also serves as its current Dean. Her research, field action and teaching at the school are focused on psychosocial care and support in disaster and humanitarian contexts, and her research interests also include disaster risk, vulnerability and recovery in relation to psychosocial well-being.

Surinder K. P. Jaswal is the former Deputy Director (Pro Vice-Chancellor) and Professor of Social Work, Centre for Health and Mental Health, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India. She was also the Associate Editor of the Indian Journal of Social Work (IJSW). She is a social work educator and public health researcher focusing on inequality and human development issues in health and mental health.

Allan Mathew Alex is a research officer associated with the Jamsetji Tata School of Disaster Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India. He has engaged in a variety of projects focusing on disaster and trauma recovery, disaster justice and disaster risk in urban development. ORCID 0009-0005-2050-1528

Lavanya Shanbhogue Arvind teaches at the Centre for Disasters and Development, Jamsetji Tata School of Disaster Studies, TISS, India. Her research spans gender and water rights, and disaster studies, with a focus on feminist, intersectional and socially responsive approaches. Her debut novel The Heavens We Chase was published in 2016, and her writings have appeared in HuffPost, Hindu Business Line, Madras Courier and Bloomberg Quint.