Dr. Katharina Karcher

I investigate how violent acts are ca­tegorized as accidents, crimes, or terrorist attacks, and the role that non-­human actors and pro­cesses play in this categorization.

Many con­ceptualizations of violence prioritize human in­tentions and actions. In doing so, however, they often pay little attention to the a­gency of objects or the complex in­teractions between human and non-human actors. In­spired by critical in­sights from Material Cultural Studies and New Feminist Materialisms, I con­ceptualize agency as relational, more-than-human, distri­buted, and dynamic. This perspec­tive allows for a more nuanced analysis of violence, taking into account material objects, infra­structures, sub­stances, and lived en­vironments without neglecting questions of human responsi­bility and accountability. 

Research Area Interpretations