TraCe: Regional Research Center “Transformations of Political Violence”

@incollection{reuterNaturwissenschaftlichtechnischeFriedensUnd2026,
address = {Wiesbaden, Germany},
title = {Naturwissenschaftlich-technische {Friedens}- und {Konfliktforschung}},
isbn = {978-3-658-49643-2},
url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-49644-9_3},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-658-49644-9_3},
booktitle = {Handbuch {Frieden}},
publisher = {Springer VS},
author = {Reuter, Christian and Scheffran, Jürgen and Kreutle, Manuel},
editor = {Gießmann, Hans J. and Rinke, Bernhard and Engels, Bettina},
year = {2026},
keywords = {Peace, Projekt-TraCe, Projekt-CNTR},
pages = {63--75},
}

@incollection{riebeCreativeUsesTechnology2026,
title = {Creative {Uses} of {Technology}: {Dual} {Use} {Governance}, {Assessment} and {Design}},
booktitle = {Conflict \& {Health} {Handbook}},
publisher = {De Gruyter},
author = {Riebe, Thea and Schmid, Stefka and Reuter, Christian},
editor = {Hagopian, Amy and Birch, Marion},
year = {2026},
keywords = {Peace, Projekt-TraCe, Projekt-CNTR},
}

@article{CabanzoValencia2025,
title = {Race, ethnicity, and technology-facilitated violence: {The} experience of activists in chocó, colombia},
doi = {10.1177/14614448251344286},
abstract = {Racism extends into the digital realm, manifesting in various forms of technology-facilitated violence (TFV). Although much research centers on the Global North, it is es-sential to investigate this issue in other settings, such as Colombia, where activists are par-ticularly vulnerable to TFV. This study enriches the debate with a qualitative approach, conducting 18 interviews with activists from Chocó and Bogotá. The literature on race and TFV reveals that technology can exacerbate racism through social media, like anonymity, and introduce new forms of racist violence, including deepfakes and algorithmic bias. However, these forms were not prevalent in our interviews. For activists, structural racism, especially limited internet, and electricity access emerged as a primary factor in their ex-periences with racist TFV. Overt TFV escalates to offline threats, silencing dissenting voices. This research emphasizes the need to understand TFV within non-Western regions, advocating for nuanced approaches to addressing digital racism in diverse contexts.},
journal = {New Media and Society},
author = {Valencia, Miyerlandy Cabanzo and Guntrum, Laura},
year = {2026},
keywords = {Peace, Projekt-TraCe, A-Paper, Ranking-ImpactFactor, Security},
}

@incollection{Guntrum2026,
title = {Bridging justice and technology: {Exploring} the integration of information and communication technologies in colombia’s transitional justice process},
isbn = {978-1-003-65171-0},
url = {https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003651710-6/bridging-justice-technology-laura-gianna-guntrum-maike-salzmann-christian-reuter},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003651710-6},
abstract = {In the wake of Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement, three Transitional Justice (TJ) institutions were established to address historical atrocities and prompt reconciliation. Recognizing the essential role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in encouraging engagement and public involvement, the Colombian government-appointed TJ institutions employed a range of communication strategies, including the use of social media, podcasts, and radio, to reach a wide range of audiences. While ICT integration is often praised for enhancing engagement, an analysis of the Facebook activity of Colombia’s TJ institutions in 2019 reveals a predominance of one-way communication. The TJ institutions primarily deployed the platform to disseminate information about their mandates, rather than fostering interactive or participatory exchanges with users. Other examples, such as the Truth Commission's interactive platform transmedia, demonstrate efforts to involve individuals affected by the conflict. Besides numerous positive aspects of using ICTs for TJ aims, it is important to acknowledge potential challenges that can arise from their use, including the exacerbation of hate speech, disparities in digital access, and privacy considerations. Analyzing these dynamics highlights the importance of contextual considerations when implementing ICT strategies in conflict-affected settings. This exercise offers insights into the potential and limitations of ICTs in advancing TJ goals.},
booktitle = {Transitional justice: {Innovations}, boundaries, and refractions},
publisher = {Routledge},
author = {Guntrum, Laura and Salzmann, Maike and Reuter, Christian},
editor = {Drumbl, Mark A. and Fisher, Kirsten J.},
year = {2026},
keywords = {Peace, Projekt-TraCe},
}

@incollection{Guntrum2026,
title = {Exploring the transformation of political violence through digital technologies},
abstract = {The landscape of political violence has undergone a profound transformation due to rapid developments in digital technologies, including but not limited to social media and Artificial Intelligence. Rather conventional non-digital forms of political violence, which are frequently characterized by e.g., the physical suppression of those who voice opposition, have been transformed and, in certain instances, reinforced by more sophisticated methodologies such as spyware. Digital technologies serve as powerful tools for both oppression and resistance: they allow perpetrators to carry out violence more efficiently and anonymously, yet also enable activists to organize, communicate, and push back against injustice. When violence is facilitated through technologies or occurs in the digital realm, it is referred to as technology-facilitated violence (TFV). Technology-facilitated violence, including doxing, hate speech, and Internet shutdowns, can affect people, communities, and societies alike, with attackers taking advantage of the rapid, anonymous, and far-reaching nature of digital platforms. In instances involving the use of TFV for the objectives of stifling dissent, orchestrating political processes, and subverting democratic institutions, we speak of technology-facilitated political violence (TFPV). As instances of TFPV rise worldwide, secure civic spaces are shrinking, disproportionately affecting civil society, and often leading to self-censorship and having a chilling effect on dissent. To illustrate some forms of TFPV, this chapter examines how political violence has been – and continues to be – transformed in the digital age, focusing on specific examples such as digital surveillance, censorship, and Internet shutdowns. We highlight the blurring boundaries between the physical and digital realms and underscore the importance of understanding these dynamics to develop effective strategies for addressing and mitigating the evolving challenges of political violence in a digital world.},
booktitle = {Handbook on transformation of political violence},
publisher = {Routledge},
author = {Guntrum, Laura and Gonsior, Anja-Liisa and Reuter, Christian},
editor = {Bonacker, Thorsten and Daase, Christopher and Driedger, Jonas and Nguyen-Pham, Lam-Phuong and Pfister, Jannik},
year = {2026},
note = {tex.city: London},
keywords = {Peace, Projekt-TraCe},
}

@book{guntrumICTEnabledActivismTechnologyFacilitated2026,
address = {Darmstadt, Germany},
title = {Between {ICT}-{Enabled} {Activism} and {Technology}-{Facilitated} {Violence}: {The} {Ambivalence} of {ICTs} in {Activism} in the {Global} {South} and {Activists}’ {Responses}},
url = {https://tuprints.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/handle/tuda/14741},
doi = {10.26083/tuda-7540},
abstract = {Over the past decade, global peacefulness has declined in parallel with the rise of authoritarian governance. In response, activists worldwide have mobilized to defend human rights, act as watchdogs, and challenge entrenched social grievances. Their activities increasingly span both physical and digital spaces, with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), partic- ularly social media and messaging applications, playing an important role in initiating, coordinating, and sustaining collective action, highlighting the hybrid nature of contemporary activism. While ICTs, through their socio-technical affordances, enable rapid, transnational communication and can lower barriers to participation, they also expose activists to new vulnerabilities, including technology-facilitated violence (TFV) such as large-scale hate speech, doxing, targeted disinformation, surveillance, and internet shutdowns. This dissertation critically exam- ines the ambivalent role of ICTs in contemporary activism in the Global South, highlighting both their emancipatory potential and the risks that accompany their use. As activists often challenge those in power, they are frequently targeted by TFV, which aims to silence dissent, thereby revealing the political nature of this violence. In order to generate in-depth, contextually grounded insights, the study employs a qualitative research design focused on activists (n=100) and civil society organizations working in human rights and digital rights (n=11) from the Global South, specifically in Myanmar, Cameroon, Costa Rica, and Colombia. Prior to data collection, the dissertation develops and reflects on ethical and security considerations for digitally mediated research in sensitive environments. Existing research rarely addresses how activists from the Global South use ICTs, how socio-political, historical, and technical conditions influence their digital practices, how they are affected by TFV, or how they cope with and respond to it. Addressing these gaps requires an intersectional lens, thereby reflecting on prevailing power imbalances, historical dependencies, colonial legacies, and persistent forms of discrimination. The findings provide a nuanced ac- count of how activists adopt and adapt ICTs in response to local opportunities and constraints shaped by factors such as accessibility, affordability, infrastructure, political conditions, and individual identities. Thereby, particular attention is given to groups frequently marginalized within society, such as women, and BIPoC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) activists, who encounter distinct barriers to using ICTs and face heightened exposure to (gendered and racist) TFV due to intersecting forms of discrimination. The findings demonstrate that ICTs play an important role in activism and everyday life, and that all interviewees were affected by some forms of TFV. This underscores the pressing need for more systematic research to identify which types of TFV are most prevalent and how they manifest, particularly given the current lack of studies that examine how activists are affected by TFV and the consequences it carries for their work, well-being, and long-term engagement. The findings also indicate that TFV is often normalized or dismissed by institutions and some- times by activists themselves, because it is perceived as limited to the online world, despite its profound offline consequences and the blurring boundaries between digital and non-digital spheres. Several interviewees perceived TFV as comparatively less dangerous in contexts where physical violence is significantly more pervasive, highlighting an important contrast with activists operating in less violent (physical) environments. How activists cope with and respond to TFV also varies considerably and depends on their personal threat assessments, with strategies ranging from ignoring incidents of TFV or blocking perpetrators to self-censorship and withdrawal from social media (chilling effects), the adoption of digital-security practices, or, in some cases, intensified resistance. The dissertation provides empirical evidence that the security practices employed by the interviewees often differ from standardized digital security guidelines, which are typically developed in the Global North and do not always align with the risks and resource constraints faced by activists in the Global South. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from, amongst others, social movement studies, violence research, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), the dissertation calls for expanding prevailing understandings of violence and security to encompass their digital dimensions, for strengthening regulatory protections and platform accountability, and for increased resourcing to address TFV more effectively. Furthermore, based on the empirical findings, the dissertation calls for participatory and context-sensitive design and policymaking processes that center the experiences of those most affected by TFV. By foregrounding Global South perspectives, the study rethinks the intersections of security, participation, and activism in an increasingly digitized world. It is important not to underestimate TFV, to take it seriously, and to further investigate how it contributes to long-term erosion of civic space, the loss of critical voices, and the consolidation of dominant narratives.},
publisher = {Dissertation (Dr. phil.), Department of History and Social Sciences, Technische Universität Darmstadt},
author = {Guntrum, Laura},
year = {2026},
keywords = {Peace, Projekt-TraCe, Projekt-ATHENE-PriVis, Dissertation},
}

@article{anja-liisagonsior_difficult_2026,
title = {‘{Difficult} but {Possible}’: {An} {Exploratory} {Approach} to the {Regulation} of {Cyber} {Weapons} {Using} {Lessons} {Learned} from {Chemical} {Weapons} {Arms} {Control}},
abstract = {Given the rising global prevalence of cyberattacks, cyber operations are being deployed with greater frequency in military settings. Despite rapid technological developments and associated threats, there is currently no binding international regulatory framework or agreement in place. It is frequently questioned whether the mechanisms of classic arms control (AC) can be adapted to the realities of cyberspace. In the field of AC, the regulation of chemical weapons represents a highly successful AC regime, effectively addressing various challenges. This paper employs an exploratory approach to address the challenges of AC for chemical and cyber weapons, highlighting both similarities and differences, drawing on expert interviews (n=14), which are discussed in an interdisciplinary manner from the perspectives of political science and computer science. This study examines how prospective cyber-AC could potentially benefit from insights gained from past experiences. Our findings lay explorative conceptual groundwork, suggesting that AC in cyberspace could be achieved by adopting a broad definition of cyber weapons, shifting the focus from regulating technology to regulating contexts of use. Regarding soft law approaches, more attention could be paid to domain-specific mechanisms, such as an attribution mechanism. Furthermore, any prospective regulation must consider current standards, political will and diverse technical approaches.},
journal = {Journal of Cyber Policy},
author = {Gonsior, Anja-Liisa and Reuter, Christian and Pleil, Helene},
year = {2026},
keywords = {Peace, Projekt-TraCe, Projekt-ATHENE-CyAware, Student},
}