Dr Roxani Krystalli
Lecturer
Biography
Dr Roxani Krystalli's research and teaching focus on feminist peace and conflict studies, as well as on the politics of nature and place. A central question animating Roxani's work within and beyond the academy is how people imagine and enact lives in the wake of loss.
Roxani is currently the co-Principal Investigator of a research project on the role of love and care in remaking worlds in the wake of violence. The project is carried out collaboratively with Dr Philipp Schulz at the University of Bremen, and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Roxani's first book, Good Victims: The Political as a Feminist Question (Oxford University Press, 2024), is based on in-depth engagement in Colombia over the course of a decade. In it, Roxani argues for the possibilities of politics through, rather than in opposition to, the status of "victim." Encompassing acts of care, agency, and haunting, the politics of victimhood entangle people who identify as victims, researchers, and transitional justice professionals. Roxani shows how victimhood becomes a pillar of reimagining the state in the wake of war, and of bringing a vision of that state into being through bureaucratic encounters. Good Victims also sheds light on the ethical and methodological dilemmas that arise when contemplating the legacies of transitional justice mechanisms. Roxani's research on the politics and hierarchies of victimhood in Colombia received the Peter Ackerman Award for best PhD dissertation at The Fletcher School in 2020. In the same year, her article on the ethics and methods of narrating victimhood was the runner-up for the Cynthia Enloe prize at the International Feminist Journal of Politics.
An enthusiastic teacher who embraces feminist pedagogies, Roxani has won and been shortlisted for several awards, nominated by her students, colleagues, and supervisors. In 2023, the British International Studies Association awarded Roxani the Early Career Excellence in Teaching International Studies Prize. Her class on the Politics of Nature and Place received the Golden Dandelion award, "in recognition of considerable contribution to education for sustainable development." Through her teaching, Roxai is committed to fostering a critical curiosity about power, an experiential education grounded in place, and an imagination of more just worlds.
Roxani's research has been supported by numerous grants and fellowships from the AHRC-DFG, the United States Institute of Peace, the National Science Foundation, the Folke Bernadotte Academy, the Social Science Research Council, the Henry J. Leir Institute, and the World Peace Foundation. Her blog received the Best Blog award at the International Studies Association in 2019.
For over a decade, Roxani has worked at the intersection of gender and peace-building as an academic researcher and humanitarian practitioner. Roxani has partnered with several international and community-based organizations, including Oxfam GB, Mercy Corps, the Feinstein International Center, various UN agencies, Beyond Borders, and more, to understand the experiences of conflict-affected communities. Her work has particularly focused on developing ethical and rigorous methodologies for documenting gendered harms. Roxani regularly advises international organizations and NGOs on various aspects of gender, justice, and peace-building.
Roxani holds a PhD and MA from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, as well as a BA from Harvard University. She was born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Research areas
Dr Krystalli's research, teaching, and supervision interests include:
- the politics and hierarchies of victimhood
- feminist analyses of peace processes
- critical approaches to transitional justice and humanitarianism
- ethics and methods of researching political violence
- the politics of nature and place
- narrative and storytelling in the study of politics
- care, beauty, and joy in the shadow of war and peace
PhD supervision
- Srivatsan Manivannan
- Sarah Gharib Seif
- Louise Courbin
Selected publications
-
Open access
Being seen like a state: transitional justice bureaucrats and victimhood in Colombia
Krystalli, R., 3 Apr 2023, In: Current Anthropology. 64, 2, p. 128-146 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Teaching and learning reflexivity in the global politics classroom
Krystalli, R., Dec 2023, In: International Political Sociology. 17, 4, 17 p., olad018.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Taking love and care seriously: an emergent research agenda for remaking worlds in the wake of violence
Krystalli, R. & Schulz, P., 1 Mar 2022, In: International Studies Review. 24, 1, 25 p., viac003.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Narrating victimhood: dilemmas and (in)dignities
Krystalli, R., 19 Jan 2021, (E-pub ahead of print) In: International Feminist Journal of Politics. 23, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Taking the research experience seriously: a framework for reflexive applied research in development
Krystalli, R., Hoffecker, E., Leith, K. & Wilson, K., 22 Sept 2021, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Global Studies Quarterly. 1, 3, 10 p., ksab022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Of loss and light: teaching in the time of grief
Krystalli, R., 15 Dec 2021, In: Journal of Narrative Politics. 8, 1, p. 41-44 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Feminist methodology
Krystalli, R., 28 Nov 2022, Gender matters in global politics: a feminist introduction to international relations. Shepherd, L. & Hamilton, C. (eds.). 3rd ed. London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 34-46 13 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
-
Open access
The things they carry: victims’ documentation of forced disappearance in Colombia and Sri Lanka
Cronin-Furman, K. & Krystalli, R., 17 Aug 2020, (E-pub ahead of print) In: European Journal of International Relations. Online First, 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Doing feminism: a conversation between Cynthia Enloe and Roxani Krystalli
Krystalli, R. & Enloe, C., 14 Mar 2020, In: International Feminist Journal of Politics. 22, 2, p. 289-298 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Narrating violence: feminist dilemmas and approaches
Krystalli, R., 29 Nov 2019, Handbook on Gender and Violence. Shepherd, L. J. (ed.). Edward Elgar, p. 173-188Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter