Wars, terrorist attacks, and spectacular acts of violence dominate media coverage and public perception – yet many forms of violence unfold quietly, gradually, and often remain unseen. With the concept of “slow violence” at its core, the fourth TraCe Annual Conference, held in Marburg from November 19–21, 2025, brought these subtle but pervasive dynamics into focus. More than 130 participants gathered under the title “Beyond the Spectacle: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Slow Violence and Political Harm” to explore the concept and its implications, deepening research on political violence and its transformations. The conference was organized by Felix Anderl, Kristine Andra Avram, Thorsten Bonacker, Anika Oettler, and Mariel Reiss (all Center for Conflict Studies, Philipps University Marburg).
The conference opened on the evening of November 19 with a public dialogue panel in the Historic Town Hall titled “Gewalt in Zeitlupe: Fehlende Aufmerksamkeit für schleichende Zerstörung” (Violence in Slow Motion: Lack of Attention to Gradual Destruction). Moderated by Verena Mischitz, the German-language panel brought together perspectives from academia, journalism, and activism. The discussion focused on forms of ecological destruction – such as the climate crisis or the long-term consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster – as examples of slow violence. Panelists Theresa Deichert (Art Historian and Curator, KUNSTHALLE GIESSEN), climate activist Carla Hinrichs, health journalist Jakob Simmank (DIE ZEIT), and Anika Oettler began by exploring how “slow violence” can be conceptualized and differentiated from other forms and dimensions of violence.
Panelists and audience members further debated the role of media, academia, and society in making slow violence visible – or keeping it invisible. Does slow violence need to be made spectacular in order to attract attention, or does change falter due to political and societal resistance? Can perpetrators of slow violence be identified and held legally accountable?
The lively discussion continued during a reception with drinks and snacks. The dialogue panel is available as a recording on YouTube (German only).
On the morning of Thursday, November 20, 2025, Thorsten Bonacker and K. Andra Avram opened the academic conference with welcoming remarks. Across eight panels and two keynotes, more than 40 contributors examined different forms, perceptions, and methodological approaches to slow violence.
The initial panels explored geographic contexts and temporal dimensions of slow violence: Panel 1 examined cases from Brazil, Ethiopia, and Mexico, while Panel 2 focused on the impact of different temporalities of conflict. In her presentation, “Slow and Spectacular Violence in Israel’s Plausible Genocide in Palestine,” Hanna Pfeifer demonstrated how immediate violence intersects with long-term destruction, including the collapse of health infrastructures and ecological damage.
After a coffee break, Panels 3 and 4 turned to urban and methodological questions. Moderated by Tareq Sydiq, Sybille Frank and Jona Schwerer examined the temporal and spatial afterlives of terrorist violence with vehicles in public spaces, drawing on the attacks in Nice (2016), Berlin (2016), and Barcelona (2017). They highlighted the ambivalent role of architectural responses – memorials, protective installations – which simultaneously commemorate past violence, offer protection, and inscribe the memory of violence into everyday life.
Panel 4 focused on methodological approaches to studying slow violence. Thorsten Bonacker and Sven Opitz discussed how atmospheric forms of violence might be analytically captured. Lam-Phuong Nguyen Pham presented “Swiddening, Weaving & Decocting Methodology: Understanding Violence through the Embodied Experience of Feminized/Feminine Subjects,” a research approach that examines embodied experiences of slow violence among feminized/feminine subjects through practices such as weaving and traditional processing techniques.
In the afternoon, Juliana González Villamizar moderated Panel 5, “Embodied Harm and (In)visible Suffering.” The presentations addressed violence against migrants and refugees in Europe as well as sexualized violence as a form of slow violence. Chronic insecurity and psychological strain in migration contexts were conceptualized as forms of everyday violence. The second afternoon panel examined institutional violence. In her talk, K. Andra Avramanalyzed delays in criminal prosecution as a form of slow violence. Using the Romanian justice system as an example, she showed how institutional continuities delay recognition of harm, hinder justice, and erode public trust in state institutions.
The first day concluded with a keynote by Natascha Mueller-Hirth (Robert Gordon University, UK), “Temporalities of Violence at the Urban Margins.” She presented findings from research projects in a number of informal settlements in Nairobi, showing how multiple crises and forms of violence – environmental degradation, disease, rising living costs, pandemic effects, and forced evictions – intersect and shape everyday life. Using a film produced as part of the project, she illustrated how community-based organizations respond to these complex challenges.
The final conference day opened with Panel 7, moderated by Anika Oettler, and Panel 8, moderated by Mina Ibrahim. Panel 7 examined violence against LGBTIQ+ individuals, including right-wing repression, book bans targeting sexual education in the United States, and the normalization of violence against trans people. The contribution by Ãryã Jeipea Karijo and Mariel Reiss highlighted how LGBTIQ+ identities in Kenya are framed as “un-African” and associated with colonial influence in current public discourse.
Panel 8 turned to environmental pollution and destruction as dimensions of slow violence. Discussions addressed the use of the pesticide Chlordecone, extractivism, and conflicts over infrastructure – each illustrating gradual, accumulative forms of harm.
The conference concluded with a keynote by Eyal Weizman (Forensic Architecture, UK), moderated by Susanne Buckley-Zistel. In his talk, “Ungrounding: Israel’s Architecture of Genocide,” Weizman analyzed spatial structures of violence in Gaza and demonstrated how Forensic Architecture reconstructs destruction on the ground through what he terms “ungrounding.” Using satellite imagery, advanced software, and layered geographic datasets, the organization analyzes how soil – essential for agriculture and urban organization – is systematically destroyed. With nearly 120 attendees, the keynote drew strong interest. The subsequent discussion addressed the definition and applicability of the term genocide, academic freedom, (counter-)forensic methods, and the role of memory and historical context.
The conference ended with a shared lunch and closing remarks from Anika Oettler, Mariel Reiss, and K. Andra Avram. In a closed meeting later that afternoon, members of the TraCe network met with the Scientific Advisory Board. The network presented current research developments and long-term plans to advisors Anoma Pieris, Stathis Kalyvas, and Eyal Benvenisti, looking beyond the current funding period.
Coffee breaks, informal conversations, and the conference dinner offered additional opportunities for exchange, allowing participants to deepen discussions across disciplinary boundaries. Overall, the concept of “slow violence” proved to be a productive framework for examining diverse dimensions of violence through varied disciplinary and methodological lenses.
