The last few years have been marked by a range of “Zeitenwenden” (turning points) – ranging from Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine and increasing concern about global pollution and climate change to the advent of generative AI, Trump’s second term, and European re-rearmament. How can research on transformations of political violence be conducted under such conditions of profound change? This question was at the heart of the TraCe research colloquium on February 13, 2026, at Goethe University Frankfurt.
Moderated by Astrid Erll, the event began with a roundtable taking stock of the project’s first years and examining how these broader transformations affect both the objects and practices of research in the TraCe network. In brief inputs, Susanne Buckley-Zistel, Laura Guntrum, Markus Lederer, and Monika Wingender addressed topics such as peacebuilding, information and communication technologies and the war in Ukraine, and reported on changes in their research and teaching practices in recent years.
In the afternoon, Rafael Diniz-Pucci (Universidade de Sao Paulo) and Karim-Aly Kassam (Cornell University) expanded upon this internal reflection with international perspectives. Moderated by Kaya de Wolff, the law scholar Diniz-Pucci explored authoritarian dynamics, environmental racism, and technology in the imbalance between Global North and South, using examples from Brazil. Kassam, a Visiting Professor at PRIF, demonstrated under the moderation of Sabine Mannitz how ecological calendars can anticipate climate change and environmental degradation and function as a methodology and pedagogy of hope.
Those preent also expressed their sincere thanks to Astrid Erll for her many years of service as TraCe co-spokesperson, paying tribute to her outstanding commitment. The next TraCe co-spokesperson election will take place at the closed-door meeting in March.