ABSTRACT
Grief is a disruptive emotion, both on a personal and a political level. Because reciprocal relations shape human identity, losing someone we love changes who we are. This chapter seeks to describe a selection of the manifold ways in which bereaved individuals respond to military deaths and act publicly based on their next-of-kin identity. Relatives' public expressions of grief adopt and engage with gender norms in general and particularly with the myth of protection. It discusses how the different national contexts condition grievers’ agency and influence the likelihood that this position will open up opportunities for the opposition to and transformation of Afghanistan war narratives. The chapter analyses general patterns and explains the national differences that have a key influence on how grief is politicised. The chapter discusses how the politico-emotional war contract connects to the public/private split and the sexual contract and it explicates how women's grief beautifies and naturalises post-national wars.
