15 - The Presence–Absence of Violence: A Conversation with Eva van Roekel on the Importance and Challenges of Perpetrator Research

Update: 2025-10-01

Description

In this episode, Heidi Mogstad speaks with cultural anthropologist Eva van Roekel about her unconventional research on war perpetrators in Argentina — individuals indicted for crimes against humanity during the so-called Dirty War (1974–1983).

The two anthropologists discuss the ethical and methodological challenges of studying soldiers who have committed acts of violence and atrocity, and how engaging with their perspectives can complicate, but also enrich, prevailing theories as well as our moral and political assumptions.

Eva van Roekel is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Heidi Mogstad is Senior Researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norway.

Comments

In Channel

15 - The Presence–Absence of Violence: A Conversation with Eva van Roekel on the Importance and Challenges of Perpetrator Research

2025-10-0137:36

14 - Humour, War and International Relations

2025-06-3001:05:32

13 - Partisan Struggles of the Past, Present, Future

2024-05-0847:07

12 - The ‘bad’ anthropologist? A conversation with Thomas Randrup Pedersen about military anthropology and soldiering in the post-9/11 era.

2024-04-1140:39

11 – Frames and experience of soldiering in Germany. A conversation with Maren Tomforde

2024-02-2834:06

10 - On Many Roles of Music during the Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1995). A Conversation with Petra Hamer

2024-02-2129:37

09 - Living for a better future at the El Shatt refugee camp

2023-12-0524:29

08 - Fun and the soldier trophy selfies. A Conversation with Elissa Mailänder

2023-10-0521:11

07 - Musical entertainment in the British Armed Forces during the Great War (1914-1918)

2023-07-2720:27

06 – War as a game: The playful aspects of the Daring Ones’ military and paramilitary experiences, 1917-1922

2023-04-2733:44

05 - Theatre in the context of the Yugoslav Wars. A conversation with Jana Dolečki

2023-03-2923:37

04 – Croatian veterans’ serious war games. A conversation with Sven Milekić

2023-01-2332:58

03 – Adventure, precarity and colonial nostalgia: A conversation with Jethro Norman about European ex-soldiers turned private security contractors in East Africa

2023-01-0227:34

02 - Consumerism in the service of pleasure and fun during the Vietnam War. A conversation with Meredith Lair

2022-12-1940:05

01 – Is there a place for fun and pleasure in war research? A conversation with Catherine Lutz

2022-09-2728:10

00:00

15 - The Presence–Absence of Violence: A Conversation with Eva van Roekel on the Importance and Challenges of Perpetrator Research

#box-pro-ellipsis-176141789211914{-webkit-line-clamp:2;}15 - The Presence–Absence of Violence: A Conversation with Eva van Roekel on the Importance and Challenges of Perpetrator Research

15 - The Presence–Absence of Violence: A Conversation with Eva van Roekel on the Importance and Challenges of Perpetrator Research

WARFUN

15 - The Presence–Absence of Violence: A Conversation with Eva van Roekel on the Importance and Challenges of Perpetrator Research