Former Fellow

Lonneke Peperkamp

Assistant Professor Philosophy of Law at Radboud University Nijmegen, and IRC Postdoctoral Fellow at University College Dublin

Research project title:
Claiming Subsistence Rights

Research abstract:
Although human rights are enshrined in international law, around 600 million people live in extreme poverty. Many consider the existence of extreme poverty in the face of abundant affluence morally problematic. The field of global distributive justice is concerned with the distribution of burdens and benefits among the global population. The main question is: What should ‘we’ (the affluent) do to address this injustice? Despite large agreement on the claim that we must, indeed, help the global poor, many people do not do that. What demands attention, therefore, is not the question of what ‘we’ should do to alleviate global poverty, but the flipside of that question: What can ‘they’ (the poor) do to secure their rights to subsistence? Potential means vary from peaceful resistance; political pressure; civil disobedience; taking resources from rightful owners; migration; to, most radically, violent resistance or war for subsistence. Such radical means are the focus of this project. The central question is: Can it be justified to claim subsistence rights by using violent means? In answering that question, this research project integrates philosophy (global justice and just war theory), human rights doctrine, and political theory.

Events:
Presentation Political Theory Colloquium June 16, 2020

  • Biografische Angaben

    Lonneke Peperkamp is Assistant Professor in Philosophy of Law at Radboud University Nijmegen, and research fellow at University College Dublin and Goethe University Frankfurt. She currently works on a two-year research project 'Claiming Subsistence Rights'. Her research interests are war and political violence, peace building, space ethics, global justice, poverty, and human rights. She is a member of the Board of Directors of EuroISME (the International Society for Military Ethics in Europe).
  • Publikationen

    L. Peperkamp and R. Tinnevelt (2020), ‘On the Possibility of Justified Subsistence Wars’, book chapter in: A. Chadwick and S. Egan (eds.), Poverty and Human Rights, Edward Elgar Publishing (in press). L. Peperkamp (2020), ‘A Just and Lasting Peace after War’, book chapter in: C. Stahn et. al. (ed.), Jus Post Bellum and the Justice of Peace, Oxford: Oxford University Press. L. Peperkamp (2016), ‘The Blurry Boundaries between War and Peace: Do we need to extend just war theory?’, Archives for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy 102/3, 315- 332. L. Peperkamp (2016), ‘On the Duty to Reconstruct after War: Who is responsible for jus post bellum?’, Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence 29/2, 403- 430. L. Peperkamp (2014), ‘Jus Post Bellum: A case of minimalism versus maximalism?’, Ethical Perspectives 21/3, 255- 288.

News from the research center

Event
02.06.2026 | Frankfurt

Forensic Truth Regimes

Movie, Panel Discussion

The event explores how documentary film and aesthetic investigations can reopen unresolved questions of justice and accountability by revisiting the 1992 killing of two Romanian Roma men at the German-Polish border and examining the counter-forensic potential of visual media to critique legal violence and truth regimes. It is part of the series “Visual Truth Regimes,” organized by Laliv Melamed (Goethe University Frankfurt, TFM), Felix Trautmann (HBK Braunschweig / Institute for Social Research), and Franziska Wildt (Institute for Social Research).

more information ›
Event
02.06.2026 | Brussels

Zusammenhalt, Vertrauen und Demokratie in Europa

Panel Discussion, Lecture

Vertrauen, Zusammenhalt, Demokratie – drei große Begriff, die in Europa derzeit allgegenwärtig sind. Doch wie belastbar sind sie eigentlich und was beschreiben sie? Was genau meinen wir eigentlich, wenn wir von politischem Vertrauen und gesellschaftlichem Zusammenhalt sprechen? Und braucht es – wie häufig behauptet – ein gewisses Maß an sozialer oder kultureller Homogenität, damit Vertrauen wachsen und Zusammenhalt entstehen kann? Diesen Fragen widmen wir uns in der aktuellen Ausgabe der Crisis Talks – auf dem Podium und im Gespräch mit unseren Gästen.

more information ›
Event
22.06.2026 | Frankfurt am Main

Rechtsextremismus und Polizei - Erscheinungsformen, Umgangsweisen, Perspektiven

Panel Discussion

Die Diskussion knüpft an den Sammelband „Rechtsextremismus als Herausforderung für Polizei und Gesellschaft“ an, der aktuelle Perspektiven aus Wissenschaft, Praxis und Zivilgesellschaft zusammenführt.

more information ›
News
18.05.2026

Videopodcast-Reihe „Our Planet, Our Health“ gestartet

Mit „Our Planet, Our Health“ startet eine neue Videopodcast-Reihe zu Fragen globaler Gesundheitsgerechtigkeit. Die Reihe, gehostet von Dr. Romina Rekers, ist eine Initiative des Global Health Justice Postdoctoral Programme (GHJ), gefördert von der Höppschen Stiftung.

more information ›
Publication
12.05.2026 | Online article

Disinhibited Informalization: Talk Radio, Bro Podcasts and the Aesthetics of Populism

This essay by Johannes Völz is a revised and updated translation of “Enthemmte Informalisierung: Talk Radio, Bro-Podcasts und die Ästhetik des Populismus,” WestEnd: Neue Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung 22.2 (2025): 3–24. It is published here as part of the b2o Review’s “Stop the Right” dossier.

more information ›
Event
25./26.06.2026 | Frankfurt

Shifting Regimes, Changing Orders

Conference

Conference as part of WDC2026 in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Designtheorie und -forschung (DGTF), Kunstgewerbemuseum/Design Campus SKD and Design and Democracy

more information ›
Publication
22.04.2026 | Chapter

Körpergeschlecht und Selbstbestimmung

Britz, Gabriele (2026): "Körpergeschlecht und Selbstbestimmung". In. Mangold, Anna Katharina; Völzmann, Berit (Hrsg.): Gerechtigkeit als Thema der Rechtswissenschaft, Nomos, S. 41-48.

more information ›
Publication
22.04.2026 | Chapter

Festrede zu Ehren von Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ute Sacksofsky, M.P.A. (Harvard), 4. April 2025

Schmidt, Rebecca Caroline; Forst, Rainer; Günther, Klaus (2026): "Festrede zu Ehren von Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ute Sacksofsky, M.P.A. (Harvard), 4. April 2025". In: Mangold, Anna Katharina; Völzmann, Berit (Hrsg.): Gerechtigkeit als Thema der Rechtswissenschaft, Nomos, S. 13-18.

more information ›