Who bears responsibility for wars and the use of violence? What interpretations of events and their background underlie the respective acts of violence and their justification? How do the struggles over meaning („Deutungskämpfe“), the interpretation of violence and the attribution of responsibility unfold, particularly in processes of political change? And what role does academia play in this? Guided by these questions, Prof. Christoph Weller’s team is examining the following aspects in the second phase of the research consortium " Bavarian Center for Peace and Conflict Research“ (BZeFK), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR):

1. The concept of „Deutungskämpfe“ (Weller 2025), a term that cannot be directly translated into English, provides a nuanced understanding of escalation risks in struggles over meaning concerning political responsibilities. By distinguishing between substantive and epistemological dimensions of the subject matter of the conflict, in conjunction with the structural power differential in the constellation between the conflicting parties, the concept makes it possible to recognise, how these conflicts can be constructively addressed within a peace-oriented framework. This enables us to analyze such conflicts as „Deutungskämpfe“ with regard to responsibilities for forms of conflict resolution and institutions of conflict management, and facilitates the provision of expertise for policy transfer.
    
2. Science and the transfer of expertise into political discourse play a particularly important role, especially in „Deutungskämpfen“ concerning responsibility. Through the “Peace Transfer Center” (" Transferzentrum Frieden Augsburg - TFA"), a joint initiative of the University of Augsburg and the City of Augsburg, the Bavarian Centre for Peace and Conflict Research (BZeFK) makes an institutionalised contribution to the transfer of expertise in peace and conflict research into the practical fields of the City of Augsburg and far beyond. At the same time, the transdisciplinary perspective of this project and the experience gained at the Peace Transfer Center enable reflections on the responsibility of academia for current processes of political change.
    
3. The BZeFK sub-project "Deutungskämpfe Concerning Sexualised Violence" builds on the social science engagement with human rights, their political practice and practical development during the first phase of BZeFK (2022 - 2026), and continues this work with a thematic focus in order to examine the interconnections between political decisions and institutions on the one hand, and academic discourses and debates on the other, in the most recent struggles over meaning. To this end, the project examines the „Deutungskämpfe“ concerning sexualised violence against children and young people in Germany, with a particular focus on the responsibilities of political, academic and civil society actors. The aim is to uncover areas of tension, lines of conflict and interactions within these „Deutungskämpfe“ – between the attribution of responsibility, social norms, and social and institutional practices – and to demonstrate how responsibility was socially negotiated in this context and (not) implemented politically.

Weller, Christoph 2025: Deutungskämpfe: Begriffe, Konzept, Beabeitung, in: ZeFKo Studies in Peace and Conflict 14: 2, 319-334, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42597-025-00146-5.