Jun.-Prof. Dr. Rosario Figari Layus

2016
PhD in Political Sciences (summa cum laude), Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
Thesis: "Small Victories:" The Reparative Effects of Human Rights Trials in Argentina.

2007–2009
MA in Social Sciences, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

2000–2004
Degree in Sociology (Licenciatura), University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

since 2024
Assistant Professor for Reconciliation Studies, Department of Sociology, University of Bonn, Germany

2018–2024
Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair for Peace Studies at the Law School, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany

2017–2018
Lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences and International Relations, Kassel University, Germany

2015–2016
Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Sociology, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany

2012–2015
Doctoral Researcher at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence, International Center for Violence Research, Bielefeld University, Germany

2011–2013
Doctoral Researcher at ERC Project "Narratives of Terror and Disappearance," Konstanz University, Germany

2010–2011
Doctoral Researcher at ERC Project "Narratives of Terror and Disappearance," Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg, Germany

Awards
2025
Voltaire Prize for Tolerance, International Understanding and Respect for Differences

2018 
Doctoral ADLAF Award (Association for German Research on Latin America, ADLAF)

2016 
Doctoral Studies Award of the Philipps-University Marburg

 
Funding Grants
2025–2027
Gerda Henkel Foundation
Research project "Activists in Exile in an Era of Mass Displacement: Universities as Sites of Protection and Agency Supporters for Activists from Russia and Myanmar"
(Together with Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York, UK)

2025–2026
Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) & der Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA)
Research project: "Academic Freedom at Risk: Climate Change and Scientific Negationism by Extreme Right Governments in Argentina and Brazil"

01/2022–08/2022
Mellon/SAR Academic Freedom Workshop & Fellowship 2021/22
Research Project: "Protecting scholars and academic freedom in contexts of extreme violence: the cases of Colombia and Brazil"

2021–2022
Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies Fellowship (CALAS research fellowship)
Research Project: "Dealing with the past? The role of elites in transitional justice processes in Latin America"

Books

• 2018. The Reparative Effects of Human Rights Trials: Lessons from Argentina. Transitional Justice Series. Routledge.
• 2010. The Role of Transitional Justice in the Midst of Ongoing Armed Conflicts: The Case of Colombia. Potsdamer Studien zu Staat, Recht und Politik 5. Potsdam University.

Edited Volumes

• 2024. As editor. With Amanda Mendonca. Special Issue on Human rights and Freedom of Teaching, Learning and Researching. Journal El Arte de Educar.
• 2020. As editor. With Ulrike Capdepon. The Impact of Human Rights Prosecutions: Insights from European, Latin American, and African Post-Conflict Societies. Leuven University Press.

Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals and Book Chapters

• 2026. "Discourses of Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Conflict and Post-Authoritarian Contexts: Unpacking a Complex Conceptual and Political Relationship." In Discourses of Justice. Indicators of Crises?, edited by Werner Gephart. Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann Verlag.
• 2026. "Wahrheitskommissionen und geschlechtsspezifische Gewalt in Lateinamerika: Ein Instrument transformativer Gerechtigkeit?" In Geschlechterzuschreibungen der (Un-)Versöhnlichkeit, edited by Christine Kruger and Viktoria Fischer, 177–202. Bonn University Press.
• 2025. "Never Again? The Institutionalization of Far-Right Negationism and Shrinking Space in Argentina: Impacts on Transitional Justice Trials and Memory Politics." International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 14(2): 68–82.
• 2024. "Just Collateral Damage? Accountability of Economic Elites in Peacebuilding and Transitional Justice in Colombia." Peace & Change: A Journal of Peace Research 49: 223–241.
• 2023. With Juliette Vargas. "The 'Domino Effect' of Ongoing Violence on Transitional Justice: the Case of Colombia's Special Jurisdiction for Peace." International Journal for Transitional Justice 7(3): 435–452.
• 2023. "Engendering Transitional Justice in Latin America. The Long Road to Gender Inclusion." In Göttingen Handbook for Latin American Law, edited by Kai Ambos, Jose Martinez, and Gerald Spindler, 833–855. Baden-Baden: Nomos.
• 2023. With Annegret Krüger and Stefan Peters. "Friedens- und Konfliktforschung in Lateinamerika: Ein Überblick." In Einführung in die Lateinamerikastudien, edited by Miriam Lay-Brandner, 219–239. Erich Schimdt Verlag.
• 2021. "Frieden für wen? Sicherheitspolitik im Kontext der Gewalt gegen Menschenrechtsaktivist_innen in Kolumbien." Zeitschrift für Friedens-und Konfliktforschung 10(1): 127–155.
• 2021. "Transitional Justice in Latin America: Toward What Kind of Justice?" In Dealing with the Past in Latin America, Southern Africa and Germany, edited by Tatjana Louis, Mokgadi Molope, and Stefan Peters, 17–43. Baden-Baden: Nomos.