Opening Lecture of the Workshop Physical Violence and State Legitimacy in Late Socialism:

PD Dr. Felix Schnell (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

"Spaces of Violence as a Conceptual Framework"

In my talk I will argue that collective violence is best to be analyzed as process that is shaped both by conditions and agency. I suggest a concept of “spaces of violence” where conditions and agency are interpreted as reciprocal factors. This avoids simplistic causal explanations of violence on the one hand and helps to understand the dynamics of violent processes on the other hand.