Alette Smeulers
Alette Smeulers is professor in international crimes at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. In her research she focuses on international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as terrorism. She takes an inter- and multidisciplinary approach. Her main expertise is on the perpetrators of these crimes and the international criminal justice system. Her most recent book Perpetrators of mass atrocities: terribly and terrifyingly normal? was published with Routledge in 2024, the Dutch translation Angstaanjagend normaal was published in 2025 with Alfabet. Together with Nicola Quaedvlieg she also has a podcast series also called: Terribly and Terrifyingly Normal. See for more information her website.
Perpetrators of mass atrocities: terribly and terrifyingly normal?
In her talk she will discuss what collective violence is, under what conditions it will occur and then zoom in on why people commit horrendous acts. What drives people to be so cruel? Are they ordinary people or all psychopaths? If ordinary people how can this be explained? Are we all intrinsically bad and do we all have a potential to evil? And if so: what can we do about it?