Konstantin Georgiev (BG-Swiss Fellowships for Bulgarian Junior Scholars, Oct ‘24 – Jul ‘25) is giving his second talk talk on:

Excess and Hermeneutics: Clashing Definitions of Police Violence in Contemporary Bulgaria

on 27 March 2025 (Thursday), at 16:30.

Moderated by Ahmed Nuri

Abstract: In this presentation, I will discuss multiple definitions of police violence—explicit and implicit—from the perspective of different social actors. My argument begins with the observation that the crucial heremeneutical keys for all involved actors are the categories of proportionality and excess. It is through these terms, and especially the latter, that social actors compete over the narratological control needed to create police violence. Drawing on recent work in social science and philosophy, as well as some anthropological classics, to examine the understanding, production, and reduction of excess as observed in some cases of alleged police violence. Additionally, I will provide some updates on the research design and methodological challenges discussed in my presentation in the previous semester.