معرفی
Vikki Bell is Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has been teaching across all levels at Goldsmiths since 1993 and has convened the MA Critical & Creative Analysis. She has also been a Visiting Scholar at Berkeley, Yale University, University of Buenos Aires, and the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (Oñati, Spain), and is a Research Associate in the Faculty of Humanities at Universidad de San Martin (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
Professor Bell earned her PhD at Edinburgh University in 1992 after studying Social & Political Sciences at Cambridge. Her academic journey has been marked by significant contributions to sociology, cultural theory, and transitional justice studies, particularly focusing on Latin American contexts.
Her research interests span transitional justice, cultural theory, aesthetics, ethics, and subjectivity, with a particular focus on post-dictatorship societies in Argentina and Chile. Professor Bell has extensively explored the cultural-aesthetic dimensions of transitional justice, examining how societies process and represent historical violence through artistic and memorial practices. Her work bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical research, drawing on contemporary social and cultural theory, particularly the works of Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt, while also engaging with feminist theory and the concept of performativity.
Professor Bell's publications demonstrate a consistent engagement with questions of ethics, aesthetics, and politics across the social sciences and theoretical humanities. Her work has been funded by prestigious organizations including the Arts & Humanities Research Council and the Economic & Social Research Council. Her most recent research projects have focused on archiving and curating the violent past in Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, for which she received significant funding including a British Academy Sustainable Development Programme grant and a Newton Prize award.
Among her notable achievements is having her "Mass political violence" research shortlisted for the Newton Prize in 2018. This recognition highlights the significance of her work on documenting and understanding political violence in Latin America.
Professor Bell has supervised numerous students and has been actively involved in academic collaborations across institutions. Her work extends beyond traditional academic boundaries, engaging with artists, activists, and human rights organizations to explore the intersections of memory, politics, and representation in post-conflict societies.
She has established herself as a leading scholar in the field of transitional justice studies, particularly known for her innovative approach that combines sociological analysis with cultural and aesthetic considerations. Her research continues to influence both academic discourse and practical approaches to dealing with historical violence and memory in contemporary societies.
