How did actors inter­act in violent street protests?

The focus of my research is on the concrete practice of violence in urban space. I examine the inter­pretations and practices of political violence in the street since the 1970s. Especially, I am in­terested in the historical mutability of con­crete, time- and place-dependent dy­namics of violence, protest strategies, and state inter­vention. Based on protest events in European cities, such as the Brixton Riots, specific squatting events, and large-scale demonstra­tions, I want to focus on the central actors: these include not only the pro­testers, but also the security forces and by­standers, as well as the re­spective possibilities and limita­tions of urban space.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.3 Interpretation of Violence in the City

My perspective combines computer science and peace research.

At this interface, I focus in particular on cyber security, new forms of war­fare, and human-computer interaction. In addition, I study the impact of new in­formation and communication technolo­gies (ICTs) on political conflict and trans­formations of political violence. The focus of my research at TraCe is the application of methods and findings from computer science in peace and security re­search.

Research Area Forms: 1.2 New Forms of Political Violence and Technological Change

What impact does technology have on con­flicts, processes of violence and their trans­formation?

Information and communication techno­logies (ICT), particularly social media such as Twitter, Facebook or messenger services like Telegram, play an in­creasingly important role in political crises and con­flicts. Especially since the Arab Spring in 2011, ICTs have been used by various actors to organize for protests, share war pro­paganda, spread dis­information, or generate attention. In my research, I empirically investi­gate how ICTs are used in political crises. I am in­terested in both risks and potentials. I plan to ex­plore the relationship between trans­formation processes and technical applications in more de­tail and find out to what extent ICTs have an impact on the trans­formation of political violence.

Research Area Forms: 1.2 New Forms of Polital Violence and Technological Change

Drawing on Colombia as an example, I explore the justifi­cation of past and present political violence with a focus on gender-specific im­plications.

My research at TraCe is situated in the field of transitional/trans­formative justice and collective memory in Colombia. Particularly, I am in­terested in justifications of past and present para­military, insurgent and state violence which seeks to pre­vent, enable and sanction deviations from norms. gendered and sexual dis­sidence. The question I pursue is whether the complex inter­actions between violent actors and social move­ments (local, national, transnational) lead to multi­layered gendered orders of social life.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence | 3.2 Memories of Violence

What are implications of the in­creasing inter­nationalization of violent intra­state conflict for the form, intensity, and duration of political violence?

My research examines the current changing form of political violence in the context and aftermath of intra­state conflicts. I am in­terested in the increasing inter­nationalization of violent intra­state conflicts and the con­sequences for political violence. Further­more, I examine the global trend of ‘shrinking civic spaces’ and the targeted, re­pressive violence against social activists and civic actors. Empirically, I focus my research on the specific dy­namics in Latin America and especially Colombia.

Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence

Why was the contain­ment of violence successful or un­successful in the past?

In my research, I am con­cerned with ‘communities of violence’, their role in excessive force, and historical security re­search. In the con­text of the early modern period, I focus on specific situations of violence such as breaches of land peace, occupation si­tuations, and inter­ventions by foreign powers (e.g., in the context of revolutionary upheavals after 1790). I am in­terested in mechanisms of contain­ment of violence, for example through legal in­stitutions, and for what reasons this succeeds or fails in each case.

Research Area Institutions: 2.1 Intervention and Prohibition in the Context of De-Colonization | 2.2 Justification of External Intervention as a Process of Problematic Normalization of Violence

I work to strengthen democracy in Europe and continue to explore the transformations and impact of political violence.

From April 2022 until May 2025, I headed TraCe’s central office to­gether with Dr. Annika Elena Poppe. Since June 2025, I have been wor­king as Project Di­rector for European Initiatives at the Hertie Foun­dation. I co-edit the forth­coming Routledge Handbook on Transformations of Political Violence.

I am interested in Islamist and jihadist actors and their inter­action with other actors in West Asia.

My research focuses on intra-state conflicts and Islamist and jihadist actors in inter­nationalized armed conflicts. Re­gionally, I focus on West Asia and primarily on Syria. I am con­cerned with structures and in­stitutions these actors (re)build, their be­havior and their inter­action with other groups but also with civilians and ex­ternal actors. I am particularly in­terested in ideological changes, violence against civilians and trans­formation processes. I also explore ways to en­gage with militant Islamist groups to de-escalate conflicts.

Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence

Research Area Institutions: 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

To what extent can inter­nationalization on one hand and local solutions on the other contribute to trans­formations of political violence?

Peaceful conflict resolution has experienced a veritable surge of inter­nationalization and institutionalization over the past 25 years: peace­keeping missions are receiving ever more extensive mandates, and peace­building activities now re­present a focus of inter­national organizations and NGOs. At the same time, due to complex conflicts, a certain inter­vention fatigue can be ob­served among many states as well as an in­creasing search for local solutions. My research at TraCe ties in with this tension between inter­nationalization and local solutions. I am working on the con­ditions of sustainable peace­building and focus on the role of inter­national institutions.

Research Area Institutions: 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

Taking a feminist perspective, I dis­cuss the colonial legacies of anti-LGBTIQ+ policies, laws and norms.

In my research, I work from a feminist perspective on the complex relation­ship between changing patterns of inter­pretation and justifi­cation of political violence with a specific focus on LGBTIQ+ persons in Eastern and Southern Africa. I dis­cuss the multifaceted colonial legacies of anti-LGBTIQ+ policies, laws and norms as well as their inter­pretations and re-interpretations. I am particularly interested in pro­cesses of change in the field of social norms, legal practices and the relation­ship to political violence and the role of political and religious in­stitutions and actors. Further­more, my research aims to bridge the gap between scholars and activists in the dis­cussions and discourses around (structural) violence against LGBTIQ+ persons and to con­tribute to providing spaces which en­able interdisciplinary exchange.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence

I am particularly in­terested in political violence in con­texts of extreme social inequality.

Political violence in (post-) conflict settings and the pro­cessing of past violence in the fields of collective memory and transitional justice are at the center of my re­search at TraCe. I am particularly interest­ed in political violence in contexts of extreme social in­equality. I study forms and trans­formations of political violence especially in the context of socio-ecological con­flict dynamics related to resource ex­ploitation and the turn­around in energy policy.

Research Area Institutions: 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

I am particularly interested in the debates around inter­national and intra-societal processing of colonial violence that have unfolded in recent years.

Political violence is inter­twined with normative projections and their impact on social identifi­cations. Translations of these projections are constantly taking place between institutions and indi­vidual as well as collective actors, and are hence contributing to dynamics of temporality: How do ideas of the ‘good’ (or 'better') life inform political projects that employ violence to force through their goals? And how do current-day actors deal with configurations that are grounded in such historical violence, but also perpetuate related structures? Using ongoing inter­national and intra-societal processing of colonial violence, I study the relation­ships between normative dis­course, collective action and re­presentations of colonial violence and examine what processes of transformation they render.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence | 3.2 Memories of Violence

To what extent do state and non-state institutions influence the rise and legitimi­zation of political violence in the field of climate poli­tics?

In my research, I focus on political violence in the context of environ­mental and climate politics and I examine the forms and mechanisms of environ­mental conflict. I am particularly interested in the inter­actions between activists, state and non-state re­pressive institutions and how these in­fluence the increase and legiti­mation of political violence.

Research Area Forms: 1.2 New Forms of Political Violence and Technological Change

Research Area Institutions: 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

What role do spatial conditions play in the emergence of political violence?

I am interested in how and under which con­ditions peaceful protests have developed into violent street protests, which forms of violence are chosen, and how this has trans­formed over time. The city and street as spaces of conflictual, po­litical con­testation are at the center of my research. At TraCe, I want to find out to what extent the spatial con­ditions in the city play a role in the emer­gence of political violence and how actors adapt their stra­tegies and practices accordingly. In order to answer this, I will focus on political violence in cities in the 20th century.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.3 Interpretation of Violence in the City

Transformations of political violence also happen in processes of collective memory.

In my re­search, I focus on the dynamics between political violence and collective memory. Truth commissions, com­memorative culture, history books, or everyday acts of storytelling trans­form political violence into collective memory. But me­mory is not just a re­trospective act. It also preforms future violence. This is why I am interested in narratives and mnemonic images of violence. I compare the ‘afterlives’ of co­lonial violence in the Global South with the dynamics of post­colonial and post­imperial memories in Europe. In doing so, I examine the shaping role of media culture and the emer­gence and framing of memory in new media. I put a special emphasis on the analysis of current debates about comparing the Holocaust and co­lonialism (the ‘Historians’ debate 2.0).

Research Area Interpretations: 3.2 Memories of Violence

I want to under­stand why Arab states are increasingly involved in military inter­ventions in civil wars in their neighborhood.

Over the last decade, civil wars that broke out in the after­math of the Arab uprisings have been marked by their in­creased internationa­lization. Next to “typical” interveners in the region, i.e., the US and its Western allies who are militarily active at dif­ferent levels, with varying in­tensity, and mainly in the name of counter-terrorism, other actors have emerged in as ordering powers in re­gional politics, resorting to the use of force to pursue their goals. Arab states some­times cooperate with the “Western concert” but also act uni­laterally or in (new and shifting) regional alliances. The project pursued in the context of TraCe seeks to under­stand the emergence of military inter­ventions as pursued by Arab states in the wars in Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, as well as the way in which cooper­ation is organized among them, and between them and Western states.

Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence

My re­search focuses on the complexity of trans­formation and challenges one-size fits all solutions. 

In my research, trans­formations of political violence mainly relate to peace­building processes after violent conflict. I am in­terested in social and political dynamics of change, in particular re­garding demographic groups such as women and girls, victims or perpe­trators, as well as various notions of justice that are being pursued in the process. I hope to con­tribute to an under­standing of transformation that is situated and loca­lized in particular post-conflict con­texts and that challenges sim­plified global, one-size fits all solu­tions for times of transition.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence | 3.2. Memories of Violence

In resear­ching political violence, I am particularly inter­ested in the gender dimension.

My research interests within Inter­national Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies primarily include femi­nist perspectives, (post-) conflict settings, and the trans­formation of socialist societies. I place a re­gional focus on Asia in my re­search, looking at North and South Korea as well as Vietnam in particular. In re­searching political violence, I am parti­cularly interested in theoretical, methodological, and epistemo­logical innovations as well as the trans­formation of political violence in re­lation to the gender dimension.

Research Area Synergies: 4.2 Theoretical Innovations

I am interested in the inter­relationship of politi­cal violence and language.

In my research, I am con­cerned with discursive manifes­tations of political violence and nar­ratives that legitimize and justify violence. Using Russia’s current war of aggres­sion against Ukraine as a case study, I focus on Zelensky’s rhetoric of ap­peal, Putin’s propaganda, and the public represen­tation of language in the war situation and iden­tify key discourse strate­gies such as falsifi­cations of history to justify and explain violence. In this con­text, I am particu­larly interes­ted in the complexity of the inter­relationship of violence and lan­guage and analyze the extent to which lan­guage functions as a medium of violence, represents a form of violence itself – for example through hate speech – or en­ables an exchange about violence.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.2 Memories of Violence

Which causal mechanisms and pro­cesses are behind the in­crease of political violence in contexts of natural resource extraction?

My research focuses on political violence in the con­text of environ­mental and climate conflicts associated with natural re­source extraction. In addition to the relation­ between environ­mental and land defenders as well as activists and re­pressive institutions, I am in­te­rested in mechanisms and pro­­cesses associated with radi­cali­zation and terrorism in this con­­text. The aim of my re­search is to gain a deeper under­standing about causes of violent trans­formations and to develop strategies to prevent and miti­gate political violence in the con­text of environ­mental conflict.

Research Area Forms: 1.2 New Forms of Political Violence and Technological Change

Research Area Institutions: 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

I manage the research center and am specifically responsible for the strategic development of its science communication.

Over the past four years, I have estab­lished TraCe's dialogical know­ledge transfer – ranging from media relations, publications, and digital formats to dialogue events with civil society, policymakers, and jour­nalists. As Academic Coordinator, I now head TraCe’s central office together with Annika Elena Poppe, over­seeing the strate­gic develop­ment of science communi­cation and dialogue. My focus is on strengthening estab­lished colla­borations, planning future re­search and know­ledge trans­fer activi­ties, as well as assessing fun­ding oppor­tunities. In addition, I coor­dinate cross-network ex­changes, the fellow­ship program, and key inter­nal organi­zational processes.

It is my goal to under­stand the relationship between (non-)state political violence and urban spaces.

Are there specifi­cally urban forms of political violence? What strategic role does the structu­ral design of a city play in ex­ercise and containment of political violence? What role does the social and cultural hetero­geneity of urban spaces play? I under­stand large cities (not only) of the Western world as centers of new trans­local, network-like practices of violence. This applies both in the con­text of wars, terror­ism, and violent protests that use cities as vul­nerable infra­structural and sociocultural nodes as well as sites of high media attention, and in the context of in­creased surveil­lance of public spaces. In my re­search at TraCe, I examine urban streets and squares where Islamist ter­rorists have carried out deadly attacks on pedestrians with trucks/vans in recent years (Nice 2016, ­Berlin 2016, London 2017, Stock­holm 2017, and ­Barcelona 2017).

Research Area Interpretations: 3.3 Interpretation of Violence in the City

I am interested in conflicts and new forms of violence in rural areas.

As a con­sequence of land finan­cialization and the general industriali­zation of the country­side, rural populations have been ex­posed to various forms of violence in recent decades. In my re­search I am interested in these violent trans­formations and new forms of re­active violence in the countryside. On the one hand, I look at the actors and the clashes between the investors, governments, and inter­national organizations behind these trans­formations, and the social move­ments trying to re­sist their policies. On the other hand, I am also inter­ested in the rural tendency to give author­itarian answers to e­cological and e­conomic crises.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence

I am inter­ested in interpretations of historical po­litical violence in post­colonial contexts.

Within my re­search, I am con­cerned with pro­cesses of attributing meaning to his­torical vio­lence and specif­ically with the circum­stances and con­sequences of inter­pretations of violence in post­colonial relation­ships. I examine re­presentations, narratives, and forms of political and civic engage­ment in relation to the colonial atroci­ties committed by the co­lonial govern­ment during the genocide in former German South­west Africa (1904-08) and the Majimaji War in former German East Africa (1905-07). I am inter­ested in sim­ilarities and differences in the inter­pretation of these crimes and what role this plays in the dif­ferent local and inter­national approaches to historical events. Further­more, I focus on the role of civil society and po­litical actors and their in­fluence on the specific pat­terns of inter­pretation.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence

How do violent conflicts affect inter- and transnational orders?

My main re­search interest concerns the productivity of conflicts. I am particularly interested in understanding how conflict, in­cluding violent conflict, affects inter- and transnational orders. Political vio­lence has not only spurred the development of the mo­dern nation state on the European continent but it has equally affected the de­sign of inter­national institutions and values. Think of the creation of the United Nations in response to World War II. I am in­terested in when and how this happens.

Research Area Institutions: 2.2 Justification of External Intervention as a Process of Problematic Normalization of Violence

Research Area Synergies: 4.1 Language and Language Change | 4.3 Pacification or Transformation?

My research is located at the crossroad of sociology and political science in the field of international relations.

For a long time I have been interested in theories and methods in peace and conflict as well as in critical security studies. Currently, I am working on practices of international administration in postcolonial and postwar societies, society's dealing with past mass violence, and sexual and reproductive rights as a global field of conflict. Methodologically, I am using theory driven and comparative research designs with an emphasis on Central and Southeast Asia (in particular Cambodia and Timor Leste).

Research Area Synergies: 4.2 Theoretical Innovations

My research in international law deals with legal issues related to arms control and collective security.

In my inter­national law research, I am interested in the contain­ment of armed violence (military force) in inter­national relations. In addition to ius ad bellum, ius in bello (often label­led as inter­national humanitarian law) forms a cen­tral part of my re­search. As such, research on arms control law has been a key area of my work. By resear­ching legal issues, I hope to con­tribute to strengthening norms against chemical and biolo­gical weapons. In addition, I ad­dress legal questions of col­lective security from the perspec­tive of the history of inter­national law as well as fact-finding in armed conflicts.

Research Area Institutions: 2.1 Intervention and Prohibition in the Context of De-Colonization | 2.2 Justification of External Intervention as a Process of Problematic Normalization of Violence | 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

Through my research, I aim to contribute to making political violence tangible to inter­national institutions of conflict resolution.

In my research, I aim to respond to the trend towards intra-state inter­nationalized conflicts and non-state conflicts by examining the partly outdated in­stitutional regulations in the contain­ment and legitimation of political violence. By taking up post­colonial perspectives on trans­formative justice, I am to consider global inter­connections and historically founded in­equality in conflict. At the same time, such a perspective makes their intra-societal effects and potentials for conflict resolution at the local level tangible. Ultimately, through a trans­formative justice lens, my research aims to further the under­standing of political violence as a complex social phenomenon in its emergence and exercise and to find adaptations for the inter­national institutions of conflict resolution.

Research Area Institutions: 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

How are violence and ex­ternal interventions in armed conflicts related, and how can we statistically model and ex­plain these processes?

My research uses quantitative methods to better under­stand and describe the dynamics of armed conflict. I am primarily in­terested in three topic areas: When and with which out­comes do external interventions and peace processes occur in intra-state conflicts? How does ex­posure to violence affect indi­vidual identity, attitudes, and behavior? How can we analyze data most effectively to under­stand these phenomena more accurately?

Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence

How were international interventions legally justified in the 19th century?

I am looking at the construction of international law in the 19th century and especially at international lawyers and their contribution within foreign affairs ministries (Prussia/Germany, Austria, France, Russia, etc.). I will give an insight on how these international lawyers have contributed on the juridification of international relations and the justification of external intervention from a global perspective.

Research Area Institutions: 2.1 Intervention and Prohibition in the Context of De-Colonization | 2.2 Justification of External Intervention as a Process of Problematic Normalization of Violence | 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

What drives war and peace between great powers and adjacent states?

The deadliest and most de­stabilizing wars in history all developed from initial clashes between the world’s most formida­ble military powers and their much weaker neighbors (e.g. Austria-Hungary vs. Serbia in 1914). Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the looming war threat be­tween China and Taiwan highlight the endu­ring need for a systema­tic and well-grounded under­standing of military conflict between un­equal neighbors. I identify how un­equal neighbors differ from other state pairs in inter­national politics, systematize patterns of war and peace between them, and trace the causes of these patterns.

Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence

Research Area Synergies: 4.3 Pacification or Transformation?

My research on memories of political violence com­bines theoretical concepts of interdiscipli­nary memory studies with approaches from media and communi­cation studies as well as questions of recog­nition and social justice. 

I understand media culture and memory culture studies as a form of contempo­rary social analysis. In particular, I am inte­rested in the ambivalent role and trans­formative potentials of old and new media in the pro­duction and networking of media (counter)publics. In doing so, I adopt a criti­cal postcolonial-feminist pers­pective and also draw on social move­ment studies to examine the trans­formations of memory discourses and memory spaces for margina­lized groups in the Global South. The regional focus of my case studies is on the entangle­ments of social memory, media culture, and (the interpretation of) political violence in Brazil.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.2 Memories of Violence

I explore the question of how practices of violence are dealt with in and through urban spaces.

In my research, I am con­cerned with the reciprocal relationships between political violence and urban (public) spaces. I am in­terested in how urban spaces are trans­formed by acts of violence materially, symbolically, and in terms of social practices. Further­more, I investigate how these urban spaces are inter­preted differently by actors, which different con­ceptions and constructions of public spaces are made relevant and the different forms of memory of these acts of viol­ence. In this way, I would like to con­tribute to the spatial analysis of political violence.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.3 Interpretation of Violence in the City

How was modern violence conceptually and normatively ordered?

In my planned research project "Ordering Violence" I en­gage with the question as to what extent transformations of the terminological as well as normative order(s) of political violence can be identified in modernity (~1789 to today). In particular, this involves ordering the per­ception of violence by developing a modern genealogy of war and its justifi­cation. In this genealogy, I will recon­struct changes and continuities in the way ‘political violence’ has been conceptually and normatively ordered in mo­dernity. The aim of the research project is therefore not only to re­construct the definitions, concepts, and narratives cen­tral to this ordering process, but also discursive ruptures, continuities, and contingencies beyond a simple dichotomy of "old" and "new."

Research Area Synergies: 4.1 Language and Language Change | 4.3 Pacification or Transformation

I am in­terested in how political violence is remembered.

In my research, I am con­cerned with the relationship between political violence, memory, and mobility through the case of political exiles from Turkey who had to flee after the 1980 mili­tary coup in Turkey. Relying theoretically on the memory literature, the question I pursue is how a traumatic past marked by poli­tical violence, dis­placement, and exile is remembered and inter­preted today. I also focus on the relationship between memory and mobility by examining how these exiles' memories of trauma and violence moved into a new space and inter­related with a new memory culture.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.2 Memories of Violence

I am responsible for managing TraCe’s financial resources.

As Manager External Funds, I coordinate with our funding agency, manage funding transactions, and prepare our documentation and reports. I monitor the use of funds and plan our budget together with the Academic Coordination. I also oversee the project’s financial processes and monitor our compliance with all relevant funding regulations. In addition, I am responsible for the efficient administration of the project.

I manage the research center and am specifically responsible for its management as well as the promotion of its ECR.

As Academic Coor­dinator, I head TraCe’s central office – since April 2026 together with Tina Cramer – and oversee collaborative research planning and strategic development. My core responsi­bilities include coor­dinating plans for sus­taining TraCe beyond 2028, communi­cating with all part­ners, and managing the program to promote Early Career Researchers (ECR). I am respon­sible for quality control and the consortium’s budget, as well as for team leader­ship and develop­ment within the office. Other key areas of my work in­clude editing the TraCe Working Paper Series, managing TraCe’s public presence, and streng­thening TraCe‘s strategic network, among others through our Associated Researchers Program.

My research is focused on historical colonial violence in Canada.

I take into account how this violence is addressed in the modern, postcolonial settler state. Specifically, I am interested in Indigenous women who live at an intersection of multiple dimensions of violence, particularly in relation to gender and race. I study the impact that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) renders on political discourse, how it affects legal and policy processes, and if — or to what extent — the realities of Indigenous women change as a result.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence

As a Visiting Fellow with TraCe, I study European rearmament policy from the perspective of legal accountability.

My research covers three broad areas. First, I am interested in arms trade and weapons transfer policy, in particular hu­man rights safeguards, export controls, corporate accounta­bility and due diligence. Second, I look at the gover­nance of global public goods through private law, including strategic litigation and supply chain resilience. Finally, I con­duct research on legal history, focusing on the intersection of ideas between public and private interna­tional law. During my fellowship at TraCe, I will study Euro­pean rearmament policies from the perspective of legal accountability.

Research Area Institutions: 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

How can institutions create a framework to acknowledge, listen and archive survivor's voices?

The overall aim of my research is to map, in the recent de­mocratic period, transformations in the modes of (non)recognition by the Brazilian State of the politi­cal violence produced by the military dictatorship. Particularly interes­ting in this process, I examine the structures that enabled and con­ditioned the insertion of the voice of the sur­vivor’s in the country’s official history. I aim at showing how different in­stitutional mechanisms of the Brazilian transition provided distinct degrees of partici­pation, publication, and reliance on the testimony of victims of state violence in the con­struction of juridical and historical truth.

Research Area Interpreations: 3.2 Memories of Violence

As a Visiting Fellow with TraCe, I will continue my research on women, peace and security from the perspective of political violence.

My research interest includes spatial approaches to peace and peace­building, transitional justice, memory politics, norms in IR, as well as gender and peace. First, I conduct re­search on memory politics in societies that grapple with the painful legacies of the violent past in a collabo­rative research project Politics of Memory and Cultural Heritage of War, funded by the Swedish Research Council. Our research findings from Cyprus, Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina demon­strate the strength with which memories of past violence affect the quality of peace in the present. Second, within the re­search project Troubling Testimonies we collect and analyse women’s testi­monies of war from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Syria/Iraq with the aim of gendering knowledge of war. Third, building on my re­search on UNSCR 1325 and Women Peace and Security, and norms, I am currently re­searching the Backlash on the WPS agenda.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.2 Memories of Violence | 3.3 Interpretation of Violence in the City

As a Visiting Fellow at TraCe, I examine transformations of conflict causes over time as well as expectations regarding interventions to counter Russia in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

In my main projects, I investigate the interaction between civil war belligerents: I examine how quagmire can result from the interaction between the warring parties, taking into account international politics. I also look at warfighting choices, focusing on alliance behavior and the operational goals of fighting. Finally, I study the behavioral determinants of individual actions in situations of group conflict. My empirical focus is on the Middle East, especially Lebanon and Syria. With TraCe, I will (1) compare civil war causes from 1990-2000 and 2001-present and (2) consider a different context: Using my new public opinion survey in Finland, I will examine citizens’ desired national and international security responses to potential Russian attacks following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence

With my research, I aim to contribute to peacebuilding efforts in Colombia.

In my research, I investigate environ­mental conflicts and address issues of peace studies, participation as well as gender in Colombia. Having lived in Colombia and the longstanding armed conflict for all of my life, I am particularly in­terested in the local and peaceful resistance of marginali­zed groups such as women, LGBTIQ+ people, or ethnic groups against political violence. It is my goal both as a scholar and a peace­builder to provide space for a new generation to think and act critically. During my fellow­ship at TraCe, I will focus on the connections between mining and environ­mental conflicts, as well as the recent strikes in Colombia, and use qualita­tive methods to examine the role of women, LGBTIQ+, and technology in particular.

Research Area Forms: 1.2 New Forms of Political Violence and Technological Change

I am interested in the link between political violence and historical social hierarchies

In my research, I examine the extent to which transitional justice mechanisms and peacebuilding efforts are able to adress the link between political violence and long-term race, gender and class-based hierarchies. My work is based on a feminist research philosophy that emphasizes the situatedness of knowledge and aims to build ethical solidarity between activist and academic knowledge-production networks. In my research I acknowledge and emphasize the horizons of transformation that marginalized social actors enact in peacebuilding scenarios, such as Indigenous and Afrodescendent groups, women and gender/sexual dissidences, which exceed the framework of liberal modernity.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence | 3.2 Memories of Violence

How have socpe and form of intervention in intra-state conflicts changed over time?

In my research, I am studying civil conflicts with a particular focus on peace negotiations, conflict interventions and nonviolent action in violent contexts. I mostly conduct quantitative large-N studies using methods such as panel regression, IRT models and survival analysis. In the context of TraCe, I am particularly interested in the internationalization of intra-state conflict as a larger trend in the transformation of political violence. I examine how scope and forms of intervention and external support in intra-state conflicts have changed over time and how this influences the course and outcome of these conflicts.

Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence

My work aims to facilitate successful communication between science and practice.

Since June 2025, I support researchers as Knowledge Transfer Officer in making their research results visible in politics, the media, and social debates. My responsibilities include digital communication on the website and social media channels, media relations, layouting the publication series, and editing Policy Briefs. Together with our researchers, I plan various transfer formats, focusing on policy formats. I am also interested in concepts of transfer and formats of interacting with civil society and policy thus contributing to a dialogical knowledge transfer at TraCe.

I support the coordination of the research network.

As a student assistant for the center coordination, I provide support for organizational, content-related, and editorial tasks. My responsibilities include creating and maintaining databases, such as the TraCe calendar, as well as editorial preparation for the internal newsletter. 

How do practices of human-computer interaction contribute to the production of (in)security?

My research focuses on the interface of humans and information technology, analyzing governmental visions of future interactions between human actors and artificial intelligence. In doing so, I am interested in how such innovation policies, drawing on conventional understandings of human-computer interaction, contribute to the geopoliticization of technology but also to the production of ontological security. Further, I look at the micro level and examine technologically mediated practices that have both violent and peace-promoting effects. The analysis of crisis scenarios focuses in particular on misinformation and informal self-organization on social media and also asks about design-oriented implications.

Research Area Forms: 1.2 New Forms of Political Violence and Technological Change

As Visiting Fellow of TraCe I work on violence against social activists.

My research focuses on the restrictions on political and civil rights in cases of organized violence and extra-legal governance. In this sense, my work lies at the intersection of studies of democratization, criminal and political violence, criminal governance, and political institutions. I am also interested in the transformation of political violence after transitions from authoritarian rule and/or armed conflict. At TraCe, I will continue my research with Jonas Wolff on the patterns and causes of violence against social activists, building on previous research on the political logic of post-conflict violence, particularly the assassination of social movement leaders, in Colombia.  

Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence

With my research I provide a context to the modus operandi of the right wing in India. 

During my fellowship at TraCe, I would like to explore the reasons behind the rising phenomenon of lynching in India, especially after 2014 when the right-wing government came to power. I seek to understand the patterns and symbolism that create the necessary ecosystem for such acts to germinate and persist in a secular and democratic polity. At TraCe, I will contextualize the space of Digital India being used by the right-wing government to ideologically penetrate the masses. As India gradually becomes a major player in the dynamics of global power, it will be interesting to see how these internal developments negotiate with the demands of a liberal Western value system.

Research Area Forms: 1.1 Findings on the Forms, Causes and Consequences of Political Violence

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1. Interpretation of Political Violence

Research Area Synergies: 4.2 Theoretical Innovations

With my research I bring artistic and academic knowledge on political violence together.

Since summer 2023 I work with my project “Conflict and Art: The Transformative Potential of Aesthetic Practices” at PRIF as part of the research department “Local Peace Orders”. I am interested in theoretical and artistic engagements with political violence, focusing on decolonial perspectives and critically questioning the production and transfer of knowledge in academic and artistic contexts. My interest lies in bringing together artistic and academic knowledge on political violence and make it accessible to a wider audience. 

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence | 3.2 Memories of Violence

Research Area Synergies: 4.3 Pacification or Transformation?

As a Visiting Fellow with TraCe, I examine the reparatory justice of the OvaHerero genocide.
 

I am US-based writer and activist, I have been engaged in the struggle for reparatory justice for decades related to the OvaHerero and Nama genocide. During my fellowship, my research will piece together the unwritten memory of the OvaHerero people and develop educational materials in remembrance of the victims of the genocide of 1904-08. I hope to engage in educational activities to inform German scholars about German colonialism and genocide in Namibia. 

Research Area Institutions: 2.1 Intervention and Prohibition in the Context of De-Colonization

Research Area Interpretations: 3.2 Memories of Violence

I investigate processes of meaning-making and interpretation in the context of (past) political violence.

With a focus on concepts such as guilt, responsibility, or truth, my analysis examines how narratives shape perceptions of violence, the ascription of responsibility, and processes of dealing with the past and reconciliation. My research is multi-perspective and interdisciplinary. By integrating theoretical and empirical methods — particularly ethnographic approaches, interview research, and narrative analysis — I explore the complex interactions between private, public, and official accounts of violent events and state repression. In doing so, I highlight the polyphony of societies and the complexity of social practices in contexts of political violence.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence | 3.2 Memories of Violence

I support TraCe's public rela­tions work.

As a student assis­tant in the TraCe Know­ledge Transfer, I mainly support the research center's media and public rela­tions work. My tasks include mana­ging and editing the web­site and social net­works. Here, I advertise TraCe events or publi­cations, report on past activi­ties and support the scien­tists in making their work visible.

I am interested in the political reincorporation of ex-combatants and the relationship between music, armed conflict and peacebuilding.

In my research, I examine the ways in which ex-combatants reincorporate politically in post-conflict societies. In particular, I am interested in the implications of this process for subnational politics and parliament, with special emphasis on Colombia. My work is based on mixed methods, including quantitative analysis, video-ethnographies and electoral geographical analysis. Additionally, I have developed several research projects that seek to understand the role of music in the internal socialization and propaganda processes of legal and illegal armed groups.

Research Area Institutions: 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

I examine changes to international and national politics as mediated by armed conflicts and violence of particular relevance to the Global South.

My research is located on the cusp of peace, development and international studies. In this regard, I have focused on post-genocide transformations, transregional relations, and the normative underpinnings of global politics through a gender lens. During my TraCe fellowship I will be dealing with endeavours towards peace as they pertain to feminist international relations.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence

I am interested in political violence during and after colonialism.

Firstly, I ask how violence was addressed or concealed during colonialism, secondly, what role it played in the transition between colonial rule and decolonization, and thirdly, I want to find out how the topic of colonial political violence can be researched and narrated today. My focus is on the violent histories of objects and human remains that can still be found in European collections today. I also take a closer look at questions of restitution and reparations with regard to the thematization of political violence.

Research Area Interpretations

My research examines the steps that precede the manifestation of political violence in a society.

In my research, I am interested in the steps of discrimination, stigmatization and exclusion of individuals and groups of people that precede the manifestation of political violence in a society. I am also concerned with the significance of knowledge for moral principles or social norms, for the framing, ascription and assessment of violence and for coping with it.

Research Area Interpretations

As a Visiting Fellow with TraCe, I will continue my research on infrastructural violence in Indonesia’s oil palm plantation zone.

My research addresses land, labour, class, capitalism, development, resources and indigeneity with a particular focus on Indonesia. My latest book Plantation Life: Corporate Occupation of Indonesia’s Oil Palm Zone (Duke University Press, 2021), co-authored with Pujo Semedi (Universitas Gadjah Mada), explored the violence built into the infrastructure of Indonesia’s plantation zone. After the farms and forests of the former landholders have been destroyed and replaced by massive plantations of corporate palms, another kind of violence – the violence of living under corporate occupation – is set in place. During my fellowship I will be presenting a lecture and writing an article examining how people living with this violence understand and respond to it, mobilizing an analysis of (in)justice which diverges significantly from the one that outsiders like myself bring to the scene. 

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence

I am interested in the „work“ that the concept of genocide „performs“. 

Whether as a claim during acts of mass violence or afterwards in memory and recognition, genocide has become a term with talismanic power and stigmatic aura. For that reason, it is commonly regarded as the „crime of crimes.“ As a scholar, I take a constructivist approach to such norms and hierarchies to question how and why they evolved; whose interests they serve, and the power of their attraction. I aim to continue this line of inquiry in Frankfurt by working with colleagues on the question of genocide and colonial memory.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence | 3.2 Memories of Violence

As a TraCe Visi­ting Fellow, I will con­tinue my re­search on how local norms, ideas and solutions circu­late in world poli­tics. 

My research focu­ses on transi­tional justice, post-conflict peace­building, inter­national norm dyna­mics, memory poli­tics, and inter­national criminal law and courts. I have ex­plored these themes through two re­search projects: (1) through the research pro­ject “Framing Atro­city: The Politics of Local Transitional Justice”, fun­ded by the Social Sciences and Hu­manities Research Coun­cil of Ca­nada (SSHRC), I have traced how domi­nant atrocity narra­tives shape and de­limit local truth-telling and memory prac­tices in Cam­bodia and Mozam­bique, and (2) through the SSHRC-funded research pro­ject “Norm Circu­lation in South­east Asia: How Local Ideas and Solu­tions Travel On”, I am ana­lyzing how local actors ac­tively adapt and trans­late global norms into local prac­tice to support ci­vilian self-protection in South Thailand and tran­sitional justice efforts in Cam­bodia, recircu­lating their own solu­tions to these di­lemmas.

Re­search Area Insti­tutions: 2.3. Contain­ment of New Violent Ac­tors

As part of TraCe, I examine the language of war and in conflict.

My research focuses on the language of violence and the construction of the “us” vs “them” dichotomy in the context of the full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war. I aim to examine Russia’s violent policies towards the Ukrainian language and identity in the occupied territories. Based on in-depth interviews with survivors of occupation, language and human rights activists, and directors of relevant centers, I explore the intersections of language, violence, identity, and resistance during military conflict. During the Fellowship, I hope to contribute a deeper understanding of how language operates as both a target and a tool in political violence and wartime resistance.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1. Interpretations of Violence and 3.2. Memories of Violence

The primary focus of my research in international law is on legal issues of collective security.

One of my primary research areas in the field of international law concerns the question of the containment of armed violence in international relations. My research is focused on two areas: ius ad bellum and ius in bello (the latter also referred to as the law of armed conflict). One of the central aspects of my analysis pertains to the phenomenon of decollectivization of international security. In this particular context, I additionally examine individual legal issues from the perspective of the history of international law.

Research Area Institutions: 2.1 Intervention and Prohibition in the Context of De-Colonization | 2.2 Justification of External Intervention as a Process of Problematic Normalization of Violence | 2.3 Containment of New Violent Actors

My work is si­tuated at the inter­section of po­litical vio­lence, collec­tive me­mory, and its socie­tal impacts. 

I am interes­ted in ques­tions con­cerning political vio­lence (or its ab­sence), collec­tive memory, and the resul­ting social and poli­tical conse­quences. As part of the pro­ject "Echoes of the Past", my current re­search focu­ses on the narra­tives surrounding Ger­many’s so-called Peace­ful Revo­lution and how these narra­tives influence con­temporary percep­tions of poli­tical self-efficacy. As an Asso­ciate Fellow at TraCe, I also in­tend to ex­plore the collec­tive and indi­vidual know­ledge within Ger­many regar­ding its co­lonial history in Nami­bia, as well as the ways in which this past has been ack­nowledged and addressed in pub­lic dis­course.

Re­search Area Inter­pretations: 3.2. Memo­ries of Vio­lence

I am in­terested in heat stress as a ques­tion of political vio­lence.

During my TraCe fellow­ship, I will exa­mine the ethics and poli­tics of heat stress risks ari­sing from glo­bal hea­ting. To do so, I will draw from theo­ries of ther­mal in­equity, ther­mal jus­tice, climate jus­tice and thermal vio­lence, as well as loss and da­mage. My re­search will ex­plore how heat stress and its im­pacts – such as heat-related ill­ness, morbi­dity and mor­tality – amount to forms of poli­tical violence. Fi­nally, it will cri­tique the im­plicit poli­tics of respon­sibilisation in the contempo­rary climate adap­tation dis­course, that “all heat deaths are preven­table.” 

Re­search Area Syner­gies: 4.2. Theore­tical Innovations

How can the trend towards the internationalization of intrastate conflicts be explained?

My research exa­mines how the involve­ment of ex­ternal actors trans­forms intrastate con­flicts. Data on the develop­ment of intrastate vio­lence, particularly since the early 2010s, clearly show: Ex­ternal actors increa­singly inter­nationalize intrastate con­flicts through inter­vention. I am in­terested in identi­fying the patterns that emerge in this trans­formation and ex­ploring how this trend can be described and ex­plained. At TraCe, I investi­gate different forms of ex­ternal support in civil wars and dis­aggregate the trend towards inter­nationalization. The goal is to deve­lop a network perspec­tive that can grasp and ex­plain the inter­nationalization of intra­state conflicts as a macro­trend.

Re­search Area Forms: 1.1. Fin­dings on the Forms, Causes and Con­sequences of Poli­tical Vio­lence

I am interested in the relationship between urban reconfigurations and the societal processing of difficult pasts, especially after political violence during wars and dictatorships.

One focus is on the reconstruction of cities after wars, where my research concentrates on the former Yugoslavia and Lebanon. I also analyze the memorialization of political violence under authoritarian regimes in South America and in Central and Eastern Europe. Moreover, I have examined how dictatorships reshaped cities through large-scale demolitions and evictions. Across contexts of war and dictatorship, I have traced how local actors framed destruction and urban interventions as forms of violence against cities. During my TraCe Fellowship, I will work on the conceptualization of urban violence and deliver the keynote at the TraCe Colloquium on „Urban Violence“.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.3 Interpretation of Violence in the City

My research focuses on the development of regulatory processes in the context of emerging disruptive technologies.

Emerging dis­ruptive technologies, including autonomy in weapon systems and cyber weapons, are pro­foundly altering the character of warfare, thereby posing novel challenges to the re­gulation of such weapon systems. My research ex­plores the extent to which traditional arms control mechanisms are reaching their limit in regulating these techno­logies in military contexts, and how new forms of regulation are emerging through norm-setting pro­cesses and soft law. A multitude of actors exert in­fluence on these processes as norm entrepreneurs, thereby shaping the e­volution of regulatory frameworks.

Research Area Forms: 1.2 New Forms of Political Violence and Technological Change

I am interested in the connection between regional studies and research on violent conflict.

My research interests in the field of political violence focus in particular on the mechanisms and conditions of violent conflicts in Eastern Europe. I analyze these conflicts as processes resulting from nation building and decolonization since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as from efforts to move closer to the West/the EU. My interest lies in how international institutions such as the EU, OSCE or NATO manage violent conflicts and transformation processes. Of relevance is the link between autocratic rule and violent conflicts, as well as the impact of democratization and democracy promotion on violent conflicts. Additionally, I am interested in the connection between regional studies and research on violent conflicts.

Research Area Institutions: 2.2. Justification of External Intervention as a Process of Problematic Normalization of Violence

I am interested in transformations of political conflict and violence in Europe.

My re­search explores transformations of political con­flict and violence in Europe with a focus on civil society, pro­tests and other forms of political participation. I am parti­cularly interested in the dynamics of ex­clusion, polarization and po­litical mistrust that underly and accompany such changes. My re­search also addresses memories of past con­flicts with a strong interest in the inter­connections between collective me­mory and activism.

Research Area Forms | Research Area Interpretations

My research focuses on protest culture and political violence in the post-Yugoslav region.

I am interested in the inter­twining of social move­ments, culture, and the political vio­lence they cause, parti­cularly in the case of street protests since 1968. My research focu­ses on protest culture in the (post-)Yugos­lav cultural space, concen­trating on media represen­tation, elements of art and perfor­mance, and the gender dimen­sion, which are often followed by specific forms of vio­lence. The tendency for street protests to turn from peace­ful to violent raises an impor­tant research question, which I attempt to answer in the con­text of culture.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.3. Interpretations of Violence in the City

I am interested in political vio­lence in the context of cli­mate change and the environ­ment.

My re­search focuses on the causes and conse­quences of political vio­lence in the areas of climate change and the environ­ment. I also work on education in conflict con­texts, non-state armed actors, and methods for re­searching political vio­lence.

I am in­terested in collective me­mory, memory politics, and tran­sitional justice. 

My current research exa­mines the inter­generational trans­mission of memories of the vio­lent past and armed conflict within the Kurdish diaspora in Ger­many. It explores how me­mories of violence are re­membered, silenced, and mo­bilized in dia­sporic contexts, and through which media such me­mories are conveyed across genera­tions. I also ana­lyse how these memories shape iden­tity and memory prac­tices among second-generation Kurds. By exa­mining how memories of past vio­lence travel across borders, inter­act with the memory politics of the host coun­try, and shape memory ac­tivism in the dias­pora, I aim to contri­bute to discussions on memo­ries of violence from an inter­generational and trans­national perspective.