TraCe Colloquium Explores “Ecocide” as Political Violence

TU Darmstadt brings together perspectives from research, practice, and activism

A room full of people sitting with their backs to the viewer. A woman is sitting at the front in the center, speaking to the group. Behind her, a presentation can be seen on a screen.

On June 30, TraCe mem­bers of the Tech­nical Uni­versity of Darm­stadt hosted a TraCe collo­quium on “Eco­cide as Political Vio­lence”. The event brought to­gether re­searchers and prac­titioners to discuss the le­gal, politi­cal, and economic dimen­sions of eco­cide. 

The collo­quium high­lighted the impor­tance of reco­gnizing eco­cide not only as environ­mental destruc­tion, but also a spe­cific form of vio­lence that tar­gets ecological liveli­hoods through mili­tary strate­gies, eco­nomic depen­dencies, and legal loop­holes. Partici­pants addressed, how current le­gal frame­works often overlook the sys­temic drivers of eco­logical harm. They also de­bated the risk of selec­tive enforce­ment patterns that dis­proportionately affect ac­tors in the Glo­bal South.

Im Zentrum des Bildes steht ein Mann und gestikuliert erklärend vor einem Bildschirm.

The inter­disciplinary program fea­tured histo­rical and legal perspec­tives, as well as case stu­dies from Bo­livia and Colom­bia. Prac­titioner in­sights were provi­ded by Peter Emorinken-Donatus (Ecocide Law Alliance) and Jojo Mehta (Stop Ecocide Inter­national). By linking theo­ry and prac­tice, the collo­quium sparked new con­versations about streng­thening legal frame­works against eco­cide. Dis­cussions also ack­nowledged ecocide’s embedded­ness in colonial his­tories, extrac­tivist econo­mies, and global power struc­tures. 

The event fos­tered critical dia­logue among re­searchers, prac­titioners, and ac­tivists.