I am the director of the Aarhus Centre for Conflict Management (1) and coordinator of the master’s degree programme in Human Security (2). Additionally, I am affiliated with the Danish Police as a victim-offender mediator in crime cases (3) and with the the Danish Centre for Conflict Resolution as a teacher (4).
Currently, I am the principal investigator of a research project examining the long-term consequences of making international criminal justice more accessible to local affected communities (5), and I serve as the co-principal investigator of a randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of victim-offender mediation and restorative justice conferences (6).
In my early research, I focused on ubuntu and restorative justice in South Africa. This research has been utilized by the South African Constitutional Court. My articles, 'What is ubuntu? Different interpretations among South Africans of African Descent' (7) and 'The historical development of the written discourses on ubuntu,' (8) are the two most quoted articles in the South African Journal of Philosophy.
In recent years, I have been deeply interested in exploring the relationship between restorative justice and punishment, challenging the proclaimed dichotomy between the two. Publications such as 'Is restorative justice punishment?' (9) and 'Promoting restorative justice as de jure punishment: A vision for a different future' (10) have been published in Conflict Resolution Quarterly and The International Journal of Restorative Justice, respectively. This research interest has also sparked a debate with Tim Chapman (11), former chairman of the European Forum for Restorative Justice, a newspaper article (12), and an episode of Brinkmanns Briks (13).
Recently, I have delved into more theoretical issues concerning evidence and morality. My article 'When is it justified to claim that a practice or policy is evidence-based? Reflections on evidence and preferences' (14) has been published in Evidence & Policy, receiving commentaries from S. Joshus Thomas (15) and Zachary P. Neal (16). I presented this article at a council meeting of the Danish Council on Ethics (17) with the goal of initiating a discussion on their use of evidence as a foundation for recommendations regarding issues such as abortion.
In addition to my passion for research, I am also enthusiastic about teaching and supervision. In 2022, I was selected as the nominee for the teaching prize of the Ministry for Higher Education and Science at the department, school, and faculty levels at Aarhus University.
For additional information, please refer to my brief CV or connect with me on LinkedIn.
