Blurring Boundaries

At the research group “Blurring Boundaries”, we examine existing concepts and methods of peace and conflict research with regards to their analytical usefulness for the study of corporate violence. We ask ourselves: How do different understandings of violence, as well as their operationalisation for empirical research, affect what we are able to see and say about the impact of corporations on human (and non-human) lives? And more specifically, how does the turn to (international) law to restrict corporate violence influence how we think about corporations, conflict and violence?

These questions are at the heart of the research carried out by our group (for a detailed description of the research projects see below). The name “Blurring Boundaries” stands as a metaphor for the approaches and interests that guide all projects:

(1) Programmatically: To the endeavour to open up peace and conflict studies to perspectives and points of view from other disciplines beyond the social sciences and thus to expose existing debates and conceptual demarcations to new perspectives. In addition to interpretative qualitative methods from the social sciences, we work with experimental and creative methods from the arts, humanities and critical legal studies.

(2) In terms of research practices, the name “Blurring Boundaries” refers to an interest in exploring research processes and ways of communication beyond the established forms within the university. We specifically explore ways in which social research on corporate violence – both conceptual and empirical – is relevant for processes of strategic litigation in response to corporate human rights violations. We have an ongoing cooperation with the Environmental Law Clinic from Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), headed by Prof. Carolina Olarte Olarte, that combines teaching and research on conflicts and exploitation along transnational value chains. Dr. Hannah Franzki furthermore works as senior legal advisor for the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR).

Research

A protest against extractivism in Colombia. Photo by Camilo Torres (Instagram: @camilotr_ph)

Interrogating "Green" Extractivism

Amid the growing challenges of ecological devastation, nation-states, international bodies, and corporations promote “green” initiatives and policies as pathways to a sustainable future. Emission offsets, solar energy, and electric vehicles are often presented as alternatives to the harmful fossil fuel-based economies that have led us to the current state of devastation. Nevertheless, these solutions are mineral-intensive, relying on distant natures and bodies to supply raw materials and labor (Andreucci et al., 2023; Zhou & Brown, 2024). Thus, blurring the line between extractivism-as-usual and green extractivism. This project examines how these 'green' narratives shape perceptions of socio-ecological violence and explores ways in which social science research can challenge such narratives.

Details

Cover of the book "Fantomas contra los vampiros multinacionales" by Julio Cortázar which deals with the Russell Tribunal II

The Russell Tribunal II as Counter-Archive of Corporate Accountability

Between 1974 and 1976, the “Russell Tribunal II on Repression in Brazil, Chile and Latin America” convened three times in Rome and Brussels to address state crimes and corporate violence committed during the dictatorships in Latin America. Its second session focussed entirely on the role of transnational corporations in the repression in countries under investigation, trying to make sense of the link between the repressive regimes installed in the region and economic exploitation by transnational corporations. Based on the archival material from the Russell Tribunal II and interviews with surviving participants, we are currently studying how the people involved with the Russell Tribunal II tried to make sense – politically and legally – of the responsibility of transnational corporations for systematic human rights abuses.

Details

Transnationale Unternehmen, Gewalt und Verantwortung: Eine Untersuchung der Grenzen von "Business & Human Rights"

In this project, we examine the juridification of the (academic and societal) debate on transnational corporations, violence and responsibility through the “business and human rights” approach. Given the current focus on corporate responsibility for human rights abuses, the project asks how non-justiciable experiences of violence can be represented, scandalised and made heard through the Business and Human Rights lens.

Details

Image Credits

Center for Interdisciplinary Peace and Conflict Research