The Truth about Loyalty: Emotions, Ex-Combatants and Transitioning from the Past

Despite a rich body of literature on ex-combatants in transitional contexts, the reasons why former armed actors may be reluctant to engage with formal mechanisms of truth recovery have been less well explored. This article argues that ex-combatants’ antipathy towards truth recovery cannot be properly understood without critically interrogating the emotions vested in the combatant/ex-combatant experience and the intersection between emotions, politics and ideology. In particular, the article focuses on the emotion of loyalty and its influence on pro-state armed actors. It uses the case of loyalist ex-combatants in Northern Ireland as a prism through which to explore this tension. Four overlapping notions of loyalty are identified: ‘loyalty as betrayal,’ ‘loyalty, blame and managing shame,’ ‘loyalty as silence’ and ‘loyalty as protection.’ The article concludes by suggesting the need for greater recognition of the role of loyalty in mediating relationships with, and willingness to investigate, the past.