Nicole L. Immler is historian, working on the afterlife of historical injustice (World War II, colonialism), exploring why the past still matters. She is professor of Historical Memory and Transformative Justice at the University of Humanistic Studies, linking in her work History, Transitional Justice, Memory Studies, and Oral History. 

DIALOGICS OF JUSTICE

In the ‘Dialogics of Justice’, Nicole Immler studies several recognition claims addressing colonial wrongs, exploring the question: what is meant by the notion of recognition and repair? Having identified certain problems in her earlier research on the Indonesian-Dutch ‘Rawagede case’ (Immler 2016, 2018), she aims to substantiate her findings via comparative research, including Dutch (Indo European, Caribbean and Antilleans community) and international cases (UK/Kenia, European countries/CARICOM) in the analysis, to categorize the problems and identify alternative solutions. 

With her earlier research Narrated (In)Justice, exploring how (in)justice is re-narrated across generations, she was Marie Curie Fellow in the program ‘Understanding the Age of Transitional Justice’ at the NIOD, Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Exploring the ‘Rawagede case’, a court case on Dutch war crimes in Indonesia’s war of independence, resulted in a prize-winning article (BMGN 2018).  Beforehand, in her PhD, a meta-biography on Ludwig Wittgenstein, she theorized the concept of family memory (2010), further developed in her Post-doc The afterlife of restitution when examining the dynamics between family memory on the Holocaust and reparation politics (2012). 

Contact: n.immler@uvh.nl

PUBLICATIONS

Herstel als maatschappelijke opdracht: zichtbare transformatie van relaties

Nicole L. Immler & Niké Wentholt

Dec 1, 2025 | Tijdschrift voor Herstelrecht

The Child Benefits Scandal harmed individuals, families, and social relationships. This article explores societal repair using theories of transformative justice, resonance, and the justice continuum, presenting repair as a multi-level process.

Read more

Historical abuse in Dutch Catholic institutions: A qualitative evaluation of victim-survivors’ experiences with redress procedures

Naomi Ormskerk, Maarten Kunst & Nicole Immler

Nov 22, 2025 | International Review of Victimology

This study examines survivors’ experiences with redress mechanisms for historical abuse by Catholic clergy in the Netherlands, showing that empathetic, participatory procedures fostered greater recognition and agency than rigid, adversarial processes.

Read more

Daadwerkelijk veranderen

Eva Mulder, Niké Wentholt, Naomi Ormskerk, Yara Bodegraven, Jake Smit & Nicole Immler

June 27, 2025 – revised may 2026 | WODC

In this commissioned research for WODC, researchers from DoJ worked together with other UvH-researchers to study government measures to recognize violent in youth care.

Read more

‘Unburden us and them’: encountering ‘the other’ in meetings between Bosnian genocide survivors and Dutch UN veterans

Siri Driessen, Jeannette van Brenk, Nicole Immler & Eric Vermetten

March 28, 2025 | Frontiers in Sociology, Medical Sociology

The Dutch government has offered Dutchbat 3 veterans and their partners to return to Srebrenica and meet with women survivors of war and genocide. Siri Driessen, Jeannette van Brenk, Nicole Immler and Eric Vermetten aim to…

Read more

Holocaust Reparations. Scrutinizing “the Model” in Transitional Justice

Nicole Immler

Mach 19, 2025 | Redefining Reparations, Wassenaar 1952 and the Global Politics of Repair

Nicole Immler wrote a chapter on Holocaust Reparations ‘Holocaust Reparations. Scrutinizing “the Model” in Transitional Justice’, in the book Redefining Reparations, Wassenaar 1952 and the Global Politics of Repair.

Read more

How (Post) Memory Matters to Justice

Nicole Immler

Dec 30, 2024 | Dynamics, Mediation, Mobilization

“How can narrating the past change the future?”. This volume is a dedication to the work of Ann Rigney. Nicole Immler wrote a chapter on ‘How (Post) Memory Matters to Justice’.

Read more

Meerstemmig herdenken: een pleidooi voor verbinding

Nicole Immler & Limor Reshef

April 30, 2024 | Sociale Vraagstukken

In commemoration culture, a unanimous perspective increasingly prevails. Nicole Immler and Limor Reshef see in their three-generation Holocaust-research a need for more multivoicedness, including within ourselves. They argue that learning to see one’s own dialogical self is the precondition for dialogue.

Read more

Leed en Erkenning. Verschillen tussen de generaties.

Limor Reshef & Nicole Immler

Dec 14, 2023 | Chanukah edition of Benjamin

Limor Reshef and Nicole Immler wrote about how conversation with Holocaust survivors and their families revealed that the meaning of recognition clearly differs between generations and how important it is to take different needs into account.

Read more

Meerstemmigheid in erkenning van onrecht

Nicole Immler, Obiozo Ukpabi, Naomi Ormskerk & Niké Wentholt interviewed by Dagmar Punter

Oct 27, 2023 | Tijdschrift Conflicthantering

Dagmar Punter interviewed the DoJ team on the Dialogics of Justice project, and multivoicedness in the recognition of injustice.

Read more

De doorwerking van het slavernijverleden

Nicole Immler

July 14, 2023 | Staat en Slavernij

In this chapter Nicole Immler discusses the legacy of slavery with a transgenerational perspective on repair and Transformative Justice.

As of may 2025 an English translation is available.

Read more

How Tort Can Address Historical Injustice

Niké Wentholt & Nicole Immler

Jan 1, 2023 | Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy

In this article Niké Wentholt and Nicole Immler explore the role civil courts could play in facilitating the slavery justice movement.

Read more

Bosnië is veranderd, terwijl wij zelf stil zijn blijven staan

Nicole Immer, Siri Driessen & Jeannette van Brenk

Sept 8, 2022 | Military Spectator

Nicole Immer, Siri Driessen and Jeannette van Brenk on when return journeys of veterans are truly meaningful. They discuss the return journeys of veterans from a relational perspective.

Read more

Legal decisions and their dilemmas

Nicole Immler

June 21, 2021 | Chapter in: Time for Reparations. A global Perspective

Chapter by Nicole Immler on Colonial history at court: Legal decisions and their dilemmas.

Read more

Het slavernijverleden als erfenis

Nicole Immler

March 11, 2021 | Filosofie Magazine

The colonial past is a legacy that connects generations over time and remains vividly present today. From a new generational perspective, Nicole Immler discusses how to deal with this legacy.

Read more

Erkenning: Het herstel van sociale relaties

Nicole Immler

Dec 30, 2020 | Impact Magazine

Nicole Immler on the history of recognition since World War II. She concludes her article with a plea for broader recognition—not only for victims but also for their social environment and community.

Read more

Seeking justice for the mass execution in Rawagede

Nicole Immler & Stef Scagliola

Jan 15, 2020 | Rethinking History, The Journal of Theory and Practice

Nicole Immler and Stef Scagliola on seeking justice for the mass execution in Rawagede. Probing the concept ‘entangled history’ in a postcolonial setting.

Read more

MEDIA

Interview on repair after apologies

23/7/2026 “De week van David: wat komt er ná overheidsexcuses?” – NPO Radio 1, Rode Lijn

The Dutch government has offered apologies to the Moluccan community as well as to birth mothers and relinquished children. This also sets another process in motion, how should the restoration look like following an apology? In this interview by…

Read more

Interview on apologizing for wrongdoing, how do you do that?

June 8, 2026 “Excuses aanbieden voor historische misstanden – hoe doe je dat?” – Jannie Schippers, Noordhollands Dagblad

An interview with Nicole Immler by Jannie Schipper at Noordhollands Dagblad, about apologizing for wrongdoing, how do you do that? On July 2, the Dutch state officially apologizes to mothers who, between 1956 and 1984, were forced…

Read more

Interview on commemorating in a plural way

April 2026 “Herdenken in meervoud” – Vmagazine, Vfonds

An interview with Nicole Immler by Vfonds, about commemorating in a plural way. Commemoration is constantly changing. The question is not whether, but how. What does that mean for the rituals we have built together? Who gets a place in them, and how does commemoration remain relevant…

Read more

Interview on how redressing historical injustice requires a different mentality

15/4/2026 “Herstel historisch onrecht vraagt om andere mentaliteit” – NieuwWij

“Combating the social and economic inequality of the descendants of enslaved people requires a change in societal structures. What does decolonization entail, and what is the current status?” Nicole Immler, Professor of Historical Memory and Transformative Justice at the University for Humanistic Studies, shares her…

Read more

Nicole Immler joins the board of Stichting Keti Koti Tafel 

Professor Nicole Immler has recently joined the board of the Keti Koti Tafel Foundation. With her expertise, she strengthens the further substantive development of the foundation, at the intersection of historical awareness and contemporary societal issues.

Read more

Interview on the meaning of freedom as a scientist and human being

1/6/2025 ‘Erkenning van het verleden biedt vrijheid voor de toekomst’ – Vrij Nederland

‘Recognition of the past offers freedom for the future.’ That is Nicole Immler’s position in the conversation with Annemiek Leclaire for Vrij Nederland about the meaning of freedom as a scientist and as a human being.

Read more

140 Jahre Berliner Afrika-Konferenz

23/5/2025 – ‘140 Jahre Berliner Afrika-Konferenz’ – Zeitgeschichte Online

Report by Nicole Immler on her visit of the Africa Conference in Berlin. It is about much more than genocide or restitution: dignity – at the conference commemorating the Berlin Africa Conference of 1884/85. To this day, the conference continues to shape European thinking about Africa…

Read more

Podcast Dialoog: De Geschiedenis is voorbij, de Dialoog niet.

7/4/2025 ‘De Geschiedenis is voorbij, de Dialoog niet’ – Podcast Dialoog

In this podcast episode by Stichting Dialoog NJI, Nicole Immler discusses the impact of trauma and the importance of engaging in dialogue. This is difficult, but according to Immler, you don’t always have to agree to make progress. Listening and self-reflection are key.

Read more

Interview on pleading for more space at universities for debate and emotions

30-10-2023 ‘Verdeeldheid over hoe verder op Universiteit Utrecht nu debat over oorlog verhardt: waar doe je goed aan?’ – AD

In this article Nicole Immler was interviewed on how the debate on war intensifies at universities, specifically in the conversation about the war between Israël and Hamas. In the interview she pleaded for more space…

Read more

Call on Dutch institutions for higher education to speak out on (de)humanization in the face of the violence in Palestine and Israël

27/10/2023 ‘Hamas-Israël conflict moet studenten leren niemand te ontmenselijken’ – Trouw

‘Wees niet bang om ‘partij te kiezen’ gericht op humanisering’ – Nieuw Wij

In this opinion piece Siri Driessen, Nicole Immler, Obiozo Ukpabi and Niké Wentholt called on Dutch institutions for higher education to take a stand against dehumanization in the face of terrorist…

Read more

Towards a broad societal conversation about what repair constitutes

2/7/2023 ‘Klaar met slavernijverleden? Excuses zijn pas het begin’ – AD

In this article by Carla van der Wal about the commemoration of the Dutch slavery past, Nicole Immler argues for a broad societal conversation about what repair constitutes. “This is a collective process and also revolves around what kind of society we want to…

Read more

Interview on repair for the slavery past

30/6/2023 ‘Hoe zien de herstelbetalingen voor slavernij eruit?’ – Trouw

Nicole Immler was interviewed by Robin Goudsmit en Maurice Timmermans about repair for the slavery past. It is the elephant in the room during the slavery commemoration: reparations. Will they ever come, and what should restitution look like?

Read more

Opinion piece on how ruling of ‘statute of limitations’ is misplaced in the case of institutional suffering

05/04/2023 ‘Verjaring beschermt foute instituties’ – NRC

Naomi Ormskerk and Nicole Immler published an opinion piece in reaction to the ruling in a claim brought to the court by women who had suffered institutional abuse within a religious institution. Thousands of girls were forced to perform hard labor in Catholic ‘charitable institutions.’ The ruling of…

Read more

Hoe je excuses aanbiedt voor historisch onrecht

28/11/2022 ‘Een historisch excuus aanbieden, hoe doe je dat? Deze vijf zaken kunnen het maken of breken’ – Trouw

Nicole Immler in Trouw on how to offer apologies for historical injustices. Rianne Oosterom writes about the debate surrounding apologies for the history of slavery and asks how it can be done properly. Professor Nicole Immler…

Read more

Reconstructing how their history became our history

12/11/2022 ‘Hoe de discussie over het slavernijverleden van de brievenrubriek naar de voorpagina verschoof’ – Trouw

In this article, Rianne Oosterom reconstructs how the Dutch slavery past moved from the letters page (with a letter from Volkskrant reader Roy Kaikusi Groenberg) to the front page of the public debate. Recently, the Dutch cabinet announced that…

Read more

Public lecture at the Commemoration of boys and women’s camps in Indonesia during the Japanese occupation

21/08/2022 ‘Herdenken om te verbinden in de meerstemmigheid’ – Impact Magazine

On this special occasion Nicole Immler gave a lecture on ‘Commemorating to Connect in Multivoicedness’. The organisers of the commemoration wished to reflect on the question of renewal of their commemorative tradition. How can we do this in a way that remains relevant for…

Read more

Op-Ed on Court Ruling Birthmothers v The State

03/02/2022 ‘De rechter liet afstandsmoeders in de kou staan. En wat doet de overheid?’ – Trouw

Empathy from the Court is not enough when the State refuses to recognise institutional failures. This opinion piece by Niké Wentholt and Nicole Immler analyses missed opportunities in ruling on Birthmothers v The State.

Read more

Podcast on the Keti Koti debate

01/07/2021 Podcast on the Keti Koti debate – Podcast Pluralistiek

Nicole Immler participated in a podcast hosted by the University of Humanistic Studies (Utrecht). On the 1st of July each year, the celebration of Keti Koti marks the abolition of slavery in Suriname. Nicole and student Farach Winter talked about the importance of dialogue and…

Read more

Opinion piece on colonial history as shared history

11/03/2020 ‘Geef ons koloniaal verleden een gedeelde taal’ – NRC

Nicole Immler wrote an opinion piece on the public apology made by Dutch King Willem Alexander for the ‘excessive violence’ on Dutch side during the indepence struggle of Indonesia. She argued that current public debate on colonial violence does not sufficiently recognize the need for…

Read more

BLOG

Podcast on the Keti Koti debate with Nicole Immler

01/07/2021 Nicole Immler participated in a podcast hosted by the University of Humanistic Studies (Utrecht). On the 1st of July each year, the celebration of Keti Koti marks the abolition of slavery in Suriname. Nicole and student Farach Winter talked about the importance of dialogue and the meaning of reparations, especially in light of the…

Read more

Keti koti dialoogtafel is actief burgerschap

Nicole Immler & Niké Wentholt

Some say that talking about the past of slavery polarises. The opposite appears true. At the Keti koti dialogue tables happening all over the Netherlands currently, we talk together about the role of this history in our lives now, and in the society we are part of. This creates a…

Read more

EVENTS

8/10/26 – Conference Decolonization – Promises, Problems, Practices

From 8-9 October 2026 the conference Decolonization – Promises, Problems, Practices will take place in Vienna. The conference is co-organized by Nicole Immler (University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht) together with Anaïs Angelo (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna) and Johannes Feichtinger (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna). Decolonization has become a buzzword in academia, but what, precisely,…

Read more

15-17/4/2026 – Dialogics of Justice Final Conference

April 15th-17th 2026 Dialogics of Justice (NWO-VICI) – Final Conference About the conference The last decade has witnessed an increase in civil proceedings brought before Dutch district courts by people adversely affected by colonial violence, military missions, sexual abuse, and environmental harm. Does legal action against institutions such as the Dutch state, the military, the church, and…

Read more

4/2/2026 – Relationality seminar

Relational approaches have become increasingly prominent in the social sciences and humanities, resulting in the so-called ‘relational turn’ (Dépelteau 2013). Rather than focusing on isolated actors or events, such approaches seek to understand phenomena through their relations: between people, practices, institutions, histories, and systems of power. But what does it mean to work relationally in research? Dialogics…

Read more

23/1/2026 – Meeting RNW Oral History – The Multivoiced Archive: (How) Can We Make Oral History Archives Reparatory?

On Friday 23 January, the Oral History Network of the Huizinga Institute hosted an inspiring gathering at University Utrecht that brought together practices and reflections from Oral History, Transitional Justice, and Memory Studies around our project: The Multivoiced Archive. During the session we – Nicole Immler, Siri Driessen, Leah Niederhausen and Rosa Mul – presented our Multivoiced Archive project,…

Read more

10/12/2025 – Living Library: Voicing the human right for multivoicedness

Is there a human right for multivoicedness? From 12 November until 12 December 2025, Utrecht was dedicated to human rights. On Wednesday 10 December, International Human Rights Day, all initiatives came together in and around the Stadhuis of Utrecht. Living Library At a new edition of the Living Library by the University of Humanistic Studies, visitors met “living books”…

Read more

21–30/7/2025 – European Peace Conference on Perpetrator-Victim Dynamics

From 21 July – 30 July the European Peace Conference on Perpetrator-Victim Dynamics will take place in Amsterdam. At this year’s peace conference, the first of its kind, an international group of scholars, experts and practitioners, will seek ways to explore how perpetrator-victim dynamics run through our lives, families, business and politics. With guest lectures,…

Read more

3-4/6/2025 – Workshop ‘Reimagining victims’ reparation: building new perspectives on empathy, dignity, and justice for victims of serious human rights violations in the Global South’

As part of the consortium Reimagining Victims Reparation, Nicole Immler and Siri Driessen attend this third international workshop which brings together scholars, practitioners, and activists to rethink reparations for victims of serious human rights violations. Moving beyond traditional, legalistic approaches, the event centers victims’ own perspectives, needs, and initiatives. With a focus on the Global…

Read more

140 Jahre Berliner Afrika-Konferenz

It is about much more than genocide or restitution: dignity – at the conference commemorating the Berlin Africa Conference of 1884/85. Berlin is the place where, 140 years ago, the division of Africa among the European colonial powers was legitimised by treaty. To this day, the conference continues to shape European thinking about Africa and…

Read more

10/12/2024 – Human Library: Doe mee met meer meerstemmigheid!

On December 10, 2024 we organized this event together with Disability Studies in Nederland at the University of Humanistic Studies. The Human Library offers a platform for people to share their unique, multivoiced stories about issues of injustice, recognition, and repair. The event took place on Human Rights Day. One week prior was the International Day…

Read more

19-20/12/2024 – Conference on Intergenerational Memories of Mass Violence at the Palais des Académies (Brussels)

This conference explored the complexity of intergenerational memory in the aftermath of mass violence. Nicole Immler shared insights from three-generation-holocaust interviews during her talk: The Struggle for ‘the Right to Exist’. ‘After a war we count in generations.’ It was a timely conference: Intergenerational memories of mass violence – a truly interdisciplinary and international conference.…

Read more

29-30/08/2024 – Victimology Summer School 2024

De Victimology Summer School 2024 (29 & 30 augustus) – georganiseerd door Slachtofferhulp Nedreland en acadademische en maatschappelijke partners – met als thema ‘Grootschalig slachtofferschap: De mensen achter de massa’, richtte zich op de complexiteiten van grootschalig slachtofferschap, zoals terrorisme, online criminaliteit, en casussen als de MH17-ramp, gaswinning in Groningen en de Toeslagenaffaire. Tijdens de…

Read more

02-03/05/2024 – Reimagining Victims’ Reparation Global Network (RVRGN): “Reimagining reparation as social repair. A Dialogics of Justice perspective.”

Nicole, Siri and Niké participated in the second workshop of a newly established network on re-imagining victims’ reparations. Sandra Rios Oyola invited this group of international scholars to come together in a beautiful medieval hall at University College Roosevelt. Over two days, discussing multiple cases and theoretical frames, we exchanged ideas on how reparations can…

Read more

15/04/2024 – SPUI25: 3rd Balzan Bystanding Lecture on ‘Responsibility for the Holocaust and Slavery in a Relational Perspective’

The question how to study, teach and remember historical mass crimes, above all the Holocaust and Slavery, has become emblematic in recent years. This 3rd Balzan Bystanding Lecture took up the challenge and provided grounds for a relational perspective based on new conceptual thinking from the field of Transitional Justice and fresh empirical work on…

Read more

13/03/2024 – The Justice Visions Conference at the University of Ghent

How to bring scholars and practitioners from the Global South and North in the field of Transitional Justice in an exciting dialogue?  The Justice Visions conference at the University of Ghent focused on questions on victim’s participation, mobilization and – importantly – resistance; such as the focus fom Luke Moffet’s presentation. Niké Wentholt, Naomi Ormskerk and…

Read more

16-17/11/2023 – Symposium zur Wiedergutmachung

Nicole Immler presented another victim-centered approach to reparation research by using oral history to explore the emotionality and perception of the descendants of second and third generation victims in relation to (not) experienced reparation. When considering transgenerational memory processes, the main thing is: A discrepancy between the perceptions of the applicants and politicians is clear…

Read more

21/03/2023 – 70 Jahre Luxemburger Abkommen International Conference ‘Wiedergutmachung: Auseinandersetzung – Entschädigung – Verantwortung’, Berlin.

The conference Wiedergutmachung: Auseinandersetzung – Entschädigung – Verantwortung in Berlin discussed the legacy of the German reparation program; 70 years after the signing of the Luxembourg Agreement (1952)which, signed by Israel, the Jewish Claims Conference and Germany, forms the basis for all future compensation schemes for atrocities of National-Socialism.  While the ‘Wiedergutmachung’ is considered often as model in…

Read more

23/09/2022 – Symposium ‘Historical truth and accountability in the post-colonial state’ at Ghent University

The symposium was organised by Prof. Dr. Tine Destrooper, Justice Visions – Human Rights Centre (Ghent University) and Dr. Cira Palli-Aspero, Human Rights Centre, Ghent University to share insights and reflect on accountability for and recognition of (post-)colonial violence and its effects onsociety today. Nicole Immler and Niké Wentholt presented and participated in the rich…

Read more

14/04/2022 – Studium Generale (UU) over Slavernij: Hoe herstellen we historisch onrecht?

Hoe erken, verwerk en herstel je historisch onrecht en trauma? Van excuses tot herstelbetalingen, en van kennisverspreiding tot échte sociale gelijkwaardigheid: hoe maken we van het slavernijverleden een gedeeld verleden? Een gesprek met prof. Nicole Immler, dr. René Koekkoek (Universiteit Utrecht) en Urwin Vyent (directeur Nationaal instituut Nederlands slavernijverleden en erfenis) over excuses, erkenning en herstel.…

Read more

30/09/2022 – Expert meeting: celebrating the mid-point of our project

The Dialogics of Justice-team marked the mid-point in their project with an expert meeting. For this closed event, we invited partners from academia and practice, who we see as close collaborators in our research. We invited their feedback and discussion on our research design and first findings. This resulted in insightful reflections on what we…

Read more

29/09/2022 – Inaugural Lecture Nicole Immler

On 29 September Nicole Immler delivered her inaugural lecture as Professor Historical Memory and Transformative Justice at University of Humanistic Studies. The inaugural lecture was republished (shortened) in the Tijdschrift voor Herstelrecht, as the Dialogics of Justice research contributes to the discussion on what constitutes restorative justice (‘herstelrecht’), also a social movement in the making.…

Read more

25/03/2022 – Twinning Symposium ‘Restorative Justice’ 

On 25 March we were invited to contribute to the final symposium of the ‘Twinning project: Restorative Justice Suriname and the Netherlands’ at the Faculty of Law at Maastricht University, organized by Jacques Claessen.   Researchers and professionals from Suriname and the Netherlands have started a collaboration to extend their knowledge of restorative justice, its…

Read more

10/12/2021 – Book launch ‘Time for Reparations’ hosted by Harvard University

Join the virtual book launch of Time for Reparations: A Global Perspective, an interdisciplinary conversation by scholars and advocates to broaden our understanding of reparative strategies in the search for justice and equity. Historical injustices keep generating harm if they stay unaddressed – that premise strongly resonates with our research on the Dialogics of Justice.…

Read more

6&7/07/2021 – Conference ‘Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Transitional Justice’ hosted by Loughborough University (UK)

All team members of the Dialogics of Justice project have participated in the two-day virtual conference on Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Transitional Justice, hosted by the Loughborough University Centre for Research in Communication and Culture. The versatile program included panels on Transitional Justice and Politics of Recognition, Transitional Justice and Memory, and Transitional Justice, Human Rights,…

Read more