The Violence Seminar continues into autumn 2025, and for the first session we have invited Sofie Henze-Pedersen from the Danish National Centre for Social Science Research (VIVE) in Copenhagen to give an academic presentation.
The seminar is open to all and requires no prior registration. Following the presentation, there will be ample time for academic discussion.
About the presentation
When we speak of violence, we often refer to it as an act—something that happens and then disappears. However, this is only one way to understand violence. Another approach is to view it as an experience—something that is not only endured in the moment but absorbed and carried forward by those subjected to it, becoming a part of their life.
In this seminar, Henze-Pedersen presents an analysis based on a qualitative study of women’s experiences of violence after having lived with a violent partner. Drawing on a sociological perspective on time, she introduces three analytical concepts that help us understand how violence persists across temporal dimensions: inheritance (violence’s past), saturation (violence’s present), and foreshadowing (violence’s future).
The past, present, and future of violence become intertwined in the present, forming a composite framework through which women’s everyday lives are shaped. In this way, violence is not merely a transient event but a fundamental condition that influences life over time.
In closing, she discusses the implications of this perspective for our methodological approach to studying violence, and for how systems and practitioners can better support individuals living with violence.
The presentation is based on the scholarly article The Interlacement of Violence: Three Temporalities of Violence in Everyday Life, published in the journal Sociology (journals.sagepub.com).
About the speaker
Henze-Pedersen is an anthropologist with a PhD in sociology (vive.dk). She is a senior researcher at the Danish National Centre for Social Science Research (VIVE) in Copenhagen. Her research focuses on childhood, family, everyday life, social services, and violence.
About the Violence Seminar
The Violence Seminar is a seminar series organised by researchers in the Violence Research Programme at the Welfare Research Institute NOVA, OsloMet. Its purpose is to create an interdisciplinary platform where researchers with an interest in violence as a phenomenon, and in society’s response to it, can come together.
Violence is broadly defined, and the aim is to explore various degrees and forms of violence, control, and abuse, as well as connections between different types of violence. The focus will be on violence in close relationships and violence among youth.
Please contact Silje Hartberg or Ingrid Smette if you have suggestions for topics or would like to be added to the mailing list for information about upcoming seminars.