At a time when acts of overt political aggression and excessive use of force by state actors dominate global media discourse and public debate, the more insidious forms of violence that unfold gradually and subtly often remain unacknowledged. How can these forms of violence be understood and related to more direct, publicly visible violence?
The concept of “slow violence” refers to subtle forms of violence that challenge traditional understandings. It demonstrates how structural inequalities generate hidden suffering over extended periods of time. Building on this conceptual opening, the TraCe annual conference ‘Beyond the Spectacle: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Slow Violence and Political Harm’ from November 19 until 21, 2025 in Marburg, aims to expand research on violence and its transformations.
The three-day TraCe Annual Conference will kick off with the dialogue panel with practitioners and researchers on Wednesday, November 19, at 6 p.m. The dialogue panel will be held in German. On Thursday and Friday, the international conference will feature a total of eight panels with more than forty researchers and two keynotes by Rachel Pain (Newcastle University) and Eyal Weizman (Forensic Architecture).
Registration is possible until October 10 via eveeno (https://eveeno.com/slow-violence). The conference is organized by Felix Anderl, Kristine Andra Avram, Thorsten Bonacker, Anika Oettler, and Mariel Reiss (all Center for Conflict Studies, Philipps University Marburg). Questions concerning the conference can be directed to trace(at)staff.uni-marburg.de.