December webinar: Prof. Sara de Jong: From moral injury to moral redemption? Afghanistan veterans’ advocacy on behalf of Afghan interpreters

In this session Sara will analyse the advocacy efforts by Afghanistan veterans who support local Afghan interpreters seeking protection through resettlement. The main source for the analysis offered will be semi-structured interviews (conducted 2017-2023) with veterans from the UK, Canada, Australia, US, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, who engage in lobbying efforts and have founded advocacy and support organisations for Afghan interpreters.

Bringing together the literature around moral injury (e.g., Molendijk, 2021) with scholarship on veteran activism (e.g., Schrader, 2019), Sara will develop the argument that veteran activism on this issue is firstly fuelled by moral injury and secondly a strategy to cope with the broader moral injury generated by the failed war in Afghanistan. She will conclude that veterans’ activism simultaneously can give them a sense of healing and moral redemption, but also further deepens the injury as veterans continue to uncover and confront further structural injustices.

Sara is a Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of York (UK). Since 2017, she has been researching the claims to protection and rights by Afghan interpreters and has investigated the strategies of their advocates, including veterans in the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Germany, France, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Please note that the talk will be followed by 45 minutes' discussion with the audience, which will not be recorded, so please do come along if you can!

All are welcome to attend. To receive Zoom details, please register at for the webinar at TicketTailor.

This session is part of the Moral Injury Webinar Series organised by the International Centre for Moral Injury at Durham University.