معرفی
Charles Heller is a Professor at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bern, and a Research Associate at the University of Bristol. He leads the SNF-funded "Circumference of Violence research" project (2024-2028) and serves as Director of Research for Border Forensics, a Geneva-based agency he co-founded in 2021. His work bridges anthropology, geography, and critical forensic methodologies to analyze migration, borders, and human rights violations.
- PhD, Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Heller specializes in the politics of migration, border violence, and legal accountability. His research examines how EU border policies generate lethal outcomes, focusing on both indirect violence (e.g., Mediterranean migrant deaths) and direct violence (e.g., pushbacks in the Balkans). He integrates fieldwork with forensic reconstruction to trace interactions between state actors, NGOs, and migrants across geographically diverse case studies (Spain, Italy, Greece, Hungary). His work critically engages with humanitarianism, legal strategies, and the normalization of brutality in border regimes.
As a filmmaker and activist, Heller has co-authored influential human rights reports like "Report on the Left-to-Die Boat" (2012) and "Mare Clausum" (2018), which have shaped litigation and public discourse. His publications appear in journals such as Mobilities, Antipode, and Science, Technology, & Human Values. He also co-edited the book Viapolitics: Borders, Migration, and the Power of Locomotion (Duke University Press, 2022).
- SNF Starting Grant (2024-2028)
Heller collaborates with NGOs, policymakers, and international organizations, emphasizing the transformative potential of combining academic research with advocacy. His work interrogates the disjunction between EU human rights commitments and on-the-ground violations, offering interdisciplinary insights into accountability mechanisms and spatial politics.
