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So far, we have organised the following activities:

Mini-Series: The Dutch Complicity in the Gaza Genocide

The Contesting Governance Platform, under its Palestine Lab priority area, presents a mini-series dedicated to exploring and unpacking the multifaceted and interconnected ways in which the Netherlands is implicated in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Through a multidisciplinary approach, this series critically examines the roles and responsibilities of Dutch institutions—academic, corporate, governmental, and local—in the context of the genocide against the Palestinian people. To foster open dialogue, each session features a keynote by a leading expert on the respective theme, followed by a conversation with two of the series’ convenors, and a Q&A with the audience.

Registration is mandatory for each event.

June 24 - Academic Complicity

June 30 - Corporate Complicity

September 30 - Governmental Complicity

12 June 2025 - Guided Walk: Traces of Slavery at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��

In collaboration with students and staff from the departments of Cultural Anthropology and Educational Sciences, the Contesting Governance platform at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� has been hosting a film series titled Re-imagining the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. After four inspiring screenings, we will close this academic year with a thematic walk exploring the Traces of Slavery in the very buildings where we study, teach and conduct our research. 

Please see more information here!

12-13 June 2025 - Interdisciplinary Workshop on: Who Are 'Humans' in Military AI?

Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� and the Asser Institute organised a workshop on 13 June 2025 to understand and evaluate who are ‘humans’ involved in – or excluded from – the development and use of AI systems in the military domain. Interested researchers and practitioners are invited to submit abstracts of up to 500 words. The workshop was combined with a keynote lecture on 12 June, open to students, researchers, practitioners, and the wider public.

For more information, please click here!

22 May 2025 - Film Screening: The Blockade

As part of the Contesting Governance Platform at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, and in collaboration with students and staff from Cultural Anthropology and Educational Sciences, we hosted a film series titled Re-imagining the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. For our fourth screening, we watched  (2012) by Igor Bezinovic. This film provides a unique view from within the massive, longest, and politically most significant student protest in Zagreb, Croatia. 

For more information, please click here!

7 May 2025 - Reclaiming the Digital: Stories from Palestine

In the context of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, digital closure has intensified, from the targeting of internet infrastructure to the systematic silencing of Palestinian voices online. This event brings together researchers, activists, and digital experts to explore how such closure operates both through online platforms and (the denial of) infrastructural access, and how Palestinians resist, subvert, and reclaim these digital spaces to assert their presence, tell their stories, and envision alternative futures.

For more information, please click here!

1 May 2025 - Film Screening: All Was Good

As part of the Contesting Governance Platform at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, and in collaboration with students and staff from Cultural Anthropology and Educational Sciences, we hosted a film series titled Re-imagining the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. For the third screening, we watcged  (2022) (original title: Sab Changa Si) by Teresa Braggs. The film intimately captures the 2019–2020 student-led protests in Bangalore, India, against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

For more information, please click here!

11 April 2025 - Contesting Academia: Collaborative Rewriting

This second event in the Contesting Academia series concerned protests at/and the university. This is a theme that featured prominently in the first event of the series, the long table that took place in December 2024. This event focused on the right to protest as a practice of contestation and on how this form of contestation is managed and regulated by universities through ad-hoc directives.

For more information, please click here.

13 March 2025, 16:00-19:00 - Film Screening 'Everything Must Fall'

As part of the Contesting Governance Platform at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, and in collaboration with students and staff from Cultural Anthropology and Educational Sciences, we hosted a film series titled Re-imagining the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. The second film we watched is  (2019), a vivid reconstruction of the student protests at Wits ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, Johannesburg, by Rehad Desai. For the post-film discussion, we were honoured to welcome Zuleika Bibi Sheik (UU), and , one of the student leaders of the #FeesMustFall movement. 

For more information, please click here!

14 February 2025 - Public Event with Francesca Albanese

In this public event, co-organised by Conflict Studies and the platform Contesting Governance,  (United Nations) delivered a lecture on her mandate, the war on Gaza, and the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories. She also reflected on her role as an independent expert voice in a polarised and often hostile public debate.

The lecture was followed by a conversation with Fabio Cristiano and Katharine Fortin (both from Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��), as well as a Q&A session with the audience.  

For more information, please click here!

8 January 2025, 16:00 - 18:00 - Book Launch: The Shaming State

On the 8th of January we organised the book launch of ‘The Shaming State: How the U.S. Treats Citizens in Need’ by Sara Salman. Here, Salman argues that Americans have been abandoned by a government that has relinquished its duties of care toward its citizens. Describing a government that withholds care in times of need and instead shames the very citizens it claims to serve, both poor and middle class, Salman argues that the state does so by emphasizing personal responsibility, thus tacitly blaming the needy for relying on state programs. 

For more information, please click here!

6 December 2024, 14:00 - 16:00 - Contesting Academia: A Long Table

In this first event of a series on the role of contestation in academia, the Contesting Governance Platform brings together different members of the Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� (UU) community (academic and support staff, students, activists, representatives) to share their insights about forms of contestation they have witnessed, been subjected to, experienced, or participated in at UU and beyond. Organised by Dr Fabio Cristiano (Conflict Studies) and Dr Alessandra Spadaro (International and European Law), we invite reflections on academia ‘re-imagined’ with thoughts shared on what a university is or should be, the role of academia in society and the future of the university. 

For more information and registration, please click here!

3 December 2024, 16:00 - 19:00 - Film Screening 'The Uprising' by Pravini Baboeram

As part of the Contesting Governance Platform at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, and in collaboration with students and staff from Cultural Anthropology and Educational Sciences, we are hosting a film series titled Re-imagining the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. The first film is  (2019), a music documentary by Dutch-Indian singer/songwriter, musician, and activist Pravini Baboeram. The screening will include creative community-building exercises as well as an interactive conversation with the director. 

For more information and registration, please click here!

20 November 2024, 16:30 - 18:00 - Book Launch 'Legacy of Lies: El Salvador 1981-1984'

The Contesting Governance Platform invites you to the book launch of Legacy of Lies: El Salvador 1981-1984. The book has previously unpublished images by photographer  and illuminates an important chapter in Latin American history, supplemented by essays from renowned journalists. Robert Nickelsberg worked as a Time magazine contract photographer for nearly thirty years, specializing in political and cultural change.

Joining the discussion are Chris van der Borgh and . The session will be moderated by Thijs Jeursen.

For more information and registration, please click here!

2 October 2024, 15:30 - 17:00 - Book Launch 'Policing the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro: Cosmologies of War and the Far-Right'

The Contesting Governance Platform invites you to this book launch of Policing the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro: Cosmologies of War and the Far-Right. This book, written by Tomas Salem, offers a rich and nuanced ethnography of the world of policing within one of the most deadly police forces. It examines how social relations and an authoritarian order are constructed through different narratives and explores the life of police soldiers serving at the frontline of Brazil's war on crime and drugs. 

Joining the discussion are Prof. Dr. Martijn Oosterbaan and . The session will be moderated by Dr. Tessa Diphoorn. 

For more information and registration, please click here!

28 June 2024, 15:30 - 17:00 - Book Launch 'Exit Wounds: How America's Guns Fuel Violence Across the Border'

Turning the conventional story of trafficking around,  follows firearms smuggled from the US to Mexico. She provides a look into the world of firearms trafficking, weaving together narratives and stories of the people affected by the cycle of violence happing on both sides of the border.

Joining the discussion are Dr. Aditi Saraf, , and Prof. Dr. Wil Pansters. The session will be moderated by Dr. Tessa Diphoorn. 

For more information, please click here!

20 June 2024, 12:00 - 14.00 - Summer Networking Event

The Contesting Governance Platform is organising a summer networking event to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue. Come ready to enjoy lunch together, share research interests, and get to know each other! For more information, please click here!

18 June 2024, 15:15 - 17:00 - Book Launch 'Violent Intimacies: The Trans Everyday and the Making of an Urban World'

The Contesting Governance Platform invites you to a book launch hosted by author Dr. Asli Zengin, Assistant Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Rutgers ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, the United States. This event will include a talk about the book from Dr. Asli Zengin, followed by an interdisciplinary discussion.

The book traces how trans people in Turkey creatively negotiate and resist everyday cisheteronormative violence. Drawing on the history and ethnography of the trans communal life in Istanbul, Zengin develops an understanding of cisheteronormative violence that expands beyond sex, gender and sexuality. For more information, please click here!

13 June 2024, 15:15 - 17:30 - Film Screening 'My Love Awaits Me by the Sea'

The Contesting Governance Platform invites you to a film screening of 'My Love Awaits Me by the Sea'. 

We will have a short framing discussion before we watch the film together, with expert . Burris is a fellow at (Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study), and currently has a project concerning 'Nordic Palestine: Transnational Circuits of Conflict and Culture'. Dr. Hayal Akarsu will moderate the film screening and the discussion and Q&A afterwards. For more information, please click here.

4 June 2024, 15:15 - 17:00 - Book Launch 'A Thousand Tiny Cuts: Mobility and Security across the Bangladesh-India Borderlands'

The Contesting Governance Platform conducted a book launch hosted by author Dr. Sahana Ghosh, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the National ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Singapore. Presentation was followed by an interdisciplinary discussion. 

The book chronicles the slow transformation of a connected region into national borderlands. Drawing on a decade of fieldwork in northern Bangladesh and eastern India, Sahana Ghosh shows the foundational place of gender and sexuality in the making and management of threat in relation to mobility. For more information, please click here.

24 May 2024, 15:15 - 17:00 - Book Launch 'Between Neutrality and Solidarity: Swiss Good Offices in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1992'

The Cold War Research Network and the Contesting Governance Platform of Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� organized hybrid launch event of Dr. Liliane Stadler’s first book, . 

Published in the Brill Series New Perspectives on the Cold War, the volume represents the first in-depth analysis of Switzerland’s diplomatic involvement in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion of 1979. It is a historical case study of the principal challenges that permanently neutral states face in times of international crisis and tension. At the same time, it examines the complex nature of the relationships between neutral state and non-state actors in situations of armed conflict through the perspective of new archival source material. For more information please click here.

15 May 2024, 11:00 - 12:45 - Book Launch 'Performing Sovereign Aspirations: Tamil Insurgency and Postwar Transition in Sri Lanka'

The book was presented by the author , an Associate Professor in Peace and Development Studies at Gothenburg ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, Sweden. The event included an interdisciplinary discussion. The book 'Performing Sovereign Aspirations: Tamil Insurgency and Postwar Transition in Sri Lanka' is available (open access) via the .

This book yields a compelling analytical narrative that shows how political institutions are enacted and witnessed, rather than cataloguing them in the strictures of the law. Additionally, it provides food for thought for broader conceptual debates concerning armed conflict and insurgency. For more information please click here.

14 March 2024  - Revisiting Security in Open Societies: (In)Security from Above, Below, or Everywhere? - Event of Security in Open Societies & Contesting Governance Platform

This event aimed to provide a platform for researchers in security studies from various disciplines to continue the discussion initiated during last year's edition of 'Contesting Security in Open Societies.' We delved into identifying disciplinary differences and exploring potential opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange within Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. During the event, participants engaged in discussions on common themes, reflect on their own disciplines, and explore the possible added value of an interdisciplinary approach. For more information, please visit this page.

28 February 2024 - The price of Data exchange – responsibilities and harms in the digitized migration context

In an era marked by unprecedented digital advancements and humanitarian efforts, the complexities surrounding data collection, sharing, and its implications for vulnerable populations, especially migrants, demand our immediate attention. Therefore, this thought-provoking roundtable discussion was centered on the critical theme of data exchange practices, data responsibilities and harms in the migration context. For more information please click here.

01 December 2023 - Symposium Travelling Technologies

During this symposium, various scholars presented their work related to technological advancements in security. More specifically, this symposium delved into the dimension of 'travelling' within AI innovation, experimentation and deployment across policing and warfare operations. For more information, please visit this page.

30 November 2023 - Public lecture: The Rise of Algorithmic Policing in the United States

Public lecture by , a professor of Anthropology at San José State ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. This session shed light on the rise of algorithmic policing in the United States. For more information, please visit this page.

9-11 November 2023, Conference 2023: The Lausanne Moment 100 Years On: Interdisciplinary Interventions, ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Macedonia, Thessaloniki

The Lausanne Project in collaboration with the Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of Macedonia are organizing an international conference to be held in Thessaloniki, Salonica, Selanik, a city that inspired and then endured the coming of this new historical era characterized by a shift from cosmopolitanism to competing nationalisms.. For more information please click .

31 October 2023 - Gaza in Context 

In light of the ongoing and escalating violence in Gaza, we invited students and staff to partake in an academic debate that aims to contextualize the Israel-Palestine conflict. The debate featured an interdisciplinary panel of speakers with diverse backgrounds, offering insights into the conflict characterized by occupation and colonial rule. For more information, please click here.

06 October 2023 - Book Launch Marlene Schäfers

We organized a book launch, hosted by author Marlene Schäfers, an Assistant Professor in Cultural Anthropology at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. She launched her book ‘Voices that Matter’, a fine-grained ethnography exploring the sociopolitical power of Kurdish women’s voices in contemporary Turkey. For more information, please click here.

28 September 2023 - Launch Network of Interdisciplinary Policing Studies

During this network launch of the Interdisciplinary Policing Studies (NIPS), existing UU research on policing across disciplines was showcased. Various scholars from other networks at other universities and organisations were also invited to discuss the role of academia in policing studies. For more information, please visit this page.

27 June 2023 - Contesting Governance Network Event

During this network event (with borrel), we played a game which was designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue in academia in an interactive and playful way. For more information, please click here.

16 June 2023 - Book Launch 'The Vigilant Citizen' 

Dr. Thijs Jeursen presented his book ‘The Vigilant Citizen; Everyday Policing and Insecurity in Miami.’ Dr. Hayal Akarsu and Dr. Rianne Dekker acted as discussants. For more information, please click here.

14-15 June 2023 - Conference 'Interrogating the Geopolitical: Ethnographic Engagements'

This conference brought together scholars from political geography, law, and anthropology to interrogate the methodological problems of studying geopolitics from a “bottom-up” perspective. For more info, please visit this page.

6 June 2023 -  Religion and Armed Groups in Comparative Perspective

The Contesting Governance project group ‘Governance and Citizenship in Protracted Conflict’ organized a workshop on Religion and Armed Groups in Comparative Perspective, in the role of religion in the governance practices of armed groups was discussed.

30 May 2023 - Transparency and Accountability in Military Operations

The Public International Law and Human Rights Honours Programme Clinic hosted an impact event in which specialists shared interdisciplinary insights on Transparency and Accountability in Military Operations. For more info, please visit this page. 

25 May 2023 – Contesting Environmental Governance

In this seminar, Prof. dr. Liesbeth van de Grift (HUM) and Dr. Jeroen Oomen (GEO) discussed rural socio-ecological environments, state bureaucracies, and (the risks of) climate engineering technologies. For more, please click here. 

9 May 2023 - PhD Network Event

During this network event we welcomed PhD researchers to explore their research areas from an interdisciplinary perspective by playing the COLLAB game and get acquainted with the work of the Contesting Governance platform. For more information, please click here.

8 May 2023 - Roundtable conversation on the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� and the fossil fuel industry

In this roundtable co-organized with the Energy in Transition Community, we discussed the relations between the university and fossil fuel industry in Utrecht and the Netherlands. For more information can be found here.

21 March 2023 - Security Workshop

Together with the Security in Open Societies (SOS) Platform we co-organized a workshop to bring together researchers across UU working on ‘security’ and explore how security is defined, applied, and researched across disciplines and faculties. Read more about this workshop on this page. 

6 March 2023 - Presentation by Dr. Sara de Jong

, visiting scholar from the ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� of York invited by platform member Prof. dr. Bruce Mutsvairo, presented her paper Invisible Men: the injured lives of Afghan interpreters, with Dr. Aditi Saraf as a discussant. 

15 February 2023 - RAW project kicks off RE-AIM Summit

The Realities of Algorithmic Warfare (RAW) project co-hosted the ‘Realities Algorithmic Warfare: Use, Impact and Regulation’ break-out session at the RE-AIM Summit in The Hague. For more information, see here.

In December 2022, we kicked off the Contesting Governance Platform’s new Interdisciplinary Playground series, by playing the board game COLLAB, a board game designed to foster interdisciplinary dialogue designed by Silja Klepp and Johanna Barnbeck. The Interdisciplinary Playground series is designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue. It consists of play/ games-based activities that are intended to capture members’ experiences of interdisciplinary collaboration, help members reflect on the assumptions at the heart of their disciplines, learn more about the structures and priorities of other disciplines and get to know each other. 

12 December 2022 - ‘Who Controls our Army?: A conversation about war, civilian harm and the bombardment on Hawija’

Core team member Dr. Lauren Gould, together with Jip van Dort and Marrit Woudwijk, published the book ‘Hawija: The Destructive Realities of our War against IS’. During this event in Tivoli Utrecht, they engaged in a debate with the societal partners who contributed to the book, including ex-parliamentarian Sadet Karabulut, civilian harm expert Erin Bijl from Pax, Coordinating Policy Advisor Civil Harm Bob van Dijk from the Dutch Ministry of Defence, and the Nuhanovic Centre for War Reparations. 

13 September 2022 – Policing and Peacebuilding in Côte d’Ivoire, looking deeper at the rural areas

This seminar was organized by the Transformative Policing Research Group, who invited speaker Dr. , from the Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l'École Militaire (IRSEM) and Dr. Roisin Burke from Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� as discussant. 

In 2022, we organized a seminar series on the Russia-Ukraine war:

• 16 March 2022 -  (Dis)information and challenges of documenting hostilities -  dr., (Assistant Professor in Cyber-Security and Politics at Maastricht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��), Dmytro Chupryna and  Emily Tripp, (from ) and (Lecturer in Law at Tallinn ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��).

• 7 June 2022 – Receiving Ukrainian refugees: Political Discourse in Central Europe – prof.  (Kozminski ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��; Center for Research on Social Change and Human Mobility); dr. Veronika Nagy (LEG).

June 8 2022 - Realities of Algorithmic Defence Symposium

The  hosted the Realities of Algorithmic Defence Symposium to discuss with military commanders, academics, startups, and NGOs the current state of development, deployment, and regulation of autonomy in defence systems. 

28 June 2022 - Contesting Governance Network Event 

The Contesting Governance Platform hosted its first network event in the summer of 2022 to enable platform members and potential new associates to get to know each other during interactive speed date rounds.

In 2021 we organized two series of seminars to bring together UU scholars on various themes:

• 13 April 2021 – Reparations for Mass Victimization – Dr. Julie Fraser (LEG) and Dr. Lorena de Vita (HUM), with Dr. Peter Malcontent (HUM) as discussant

• 15 June 2021 – Activism – Dr. Ozan Alakavuklar (LEG) and Dr. Lorena Sosa (LEG), with Dr. Markha Valenta (UCU) as discussant

• 12 October 2021, 4-5pm – Urban struggles with Dr. Maggi Leung (GEO), Dr. Thijs Jeursen (HUM) and Dr. Karin Geuijen (LEG)

• 9 November 2021, 4-5 pm – Memory and Violence with Dr. David Henig (SBS), Dr. Iva Vukusic (HUM) and Dr. Susanne Knittel as a discussant

We also organized a Transformative Policing Seminar Series on Contemporary Trends in Policing, touching upon conceptual debates and pressing societal matters across disciplines.

• 20 April 2021 –The Limits of Legal Formalism with (Professor of Sociology and Coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College) on his recent book ‘The End of Policing’. Followed by a discussion by Dr. Veronika Nagy (LEG).
• 19 May 2021 – The New Security Imperialism with (Professor of Anthropology at Colby College) on her book ‘Militarized Global Apartheid’. Followed by a discussion by Prof. Ajay Bailey (GEO).
• 8 June 2021 – Memory Politics and Security in Northern Ireland with (Research fellow at the School of Law, Queen’s ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� in Belfast). Followed by a discussion from Dr. Iva Vukusic (HUM).

In collaboration with we organized a seminar series on ‘9/11: 20 years later’. This discussed the legacy of the 9/11 attacks. Was it indeed a turning point in history, as is often said? And if so, to whom?

• 8 September 2021 – 9/11 as a global turning point – with Prof. Beatrice de Graaf. Watch the recording

• 6 October 2021, 8 pm – The Price of Security – with dr. Tessa Diphoorn. Watch the recording

• 3 November 2021, 8 pm – What it Means to be Blacklisted – with Prof. . Watch the recording

• 8 December 2021, 8 pm – The Global War on Terror in the Neighbourhood – with dr. Luuk Slooter. Watch the recording

28 October 2020 - Rules and Laws in Protracted Conflict: Concurrence, Negotiation, and Friction

The Protracted Conflict Group organized an international, online seminar with thirteen scholars around the world, exploring the ways in which order is developed in situations of protracted conflict, whether informally as rules or formally in laws - or perhaps as something else entirely. More information on this seminar can be found in this blog post.