a.mischler@mail.huji.ac.il
Major Scholarly Fields of Interest:
Holocaust and Post-Holocaust History, Transitional Justice, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, Reparation, Archive, Collective Memory.
Current Projects:
Anticipatory Transitional Justice: Documentation, Archives, and Human Rights Accountability in Protracted Conflict
This project sharpens the concept of anticipatory transitional justice by theorizing documentation practices as infrastructures of accountability in contexts where political transition is absent, blocked, or indefinitely deferred, thereby thwarting conventional frameworks of transitional justice. Focusing on human rights archival initiatives developed by civil society actors, the research explores how resilient practices of future-oriented justice may preserve evidence, legal legibility, and historical and collective memory under conditions of ongoing violence and protracted conflict. The research pays particular attention to civilian-led documentation initiatives that emerged following the October 7 attacks, including testimony collection, digital archiving, and AI-assisted coding, in order to examine how societies preserve evidence of mass violence committed by non-state actors while simultaneously preparing future legal, historical, and commemorative frameworks in the aftermath of trauma.
Chronologies of Transitional Justice: Rethinking Sequencing, Temporality, and Reparation in Protracted Conflict
This research critically examines dominant chronological models of transitional justice structured around a linear sequence of justice, truth, reparations, apology, and reconciliation. Drawing on several protracted conflicts and culturally diverse contexts, the project explores what occurs when transitional justice mechanisms emerge in fragmented, inverted, simultaneous, or incomplete forms. Challenging universalized models of post-conflict repair, the research investigates how the political, cultural, and religious specificities of particular conflicts and reparative processes reshape the temporality of justice mechanisms. The research focuses on tensions between sequential, linear temporality and more circular or non-linear understandings of time, memory, mourning, and repair. The project ultimately argues that greater sensitivity to temporality and sequencing is necessary to sustain legitimacy, acknowledgment, and long-term social reconstruction while navigating the tensions between premature reconciliation, deferred justice, and the unfinished temporalities of repair.
Education:
2022: Rabbinical ordination, (Yoreh Yoreh), Beit Midrash Harel, Jerusalem
2008: Ph.D. in Information and Communication Sciences, specializing in Media and History Studies, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris 3), France
2005: MA (Research Track) in Journalism Practices, History, and Communications, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris 3), France
2003: BA, Information-Communication and Cultural Mediation, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris 3), France
Post-Doctoral Research:
2018–2020: Research Group Associate, Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and affiliated with the Noah Mozes Department of Journalism and Communication, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2015–2018: Research Associate, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Recherche Français de Jérusalem (CRFJ), Project Attentats-Recherche
2013–2014: Fellow, Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2012–2013: Fellow, The Smart Family Institute of Communications, Department of Communication and Journalism, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Publications:
Articles:
Herfroy-Mischler, Alexandra. Under review. “Anticipatory Transitional Justice: Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Archival Practices throughout the Israel–Palestine Conflict (1948–2025).”
Herfroy-Mischler, Alexandra. Under review. “Chronologies of Transitional Justice and Protracted Conflict: Israeli and Palestinian Perspectives on Temporality, Accountability, and Peacebuilding.”
Herfroy-Mischler, Alexandra. 2016. “When the Past Seeps into the Present: The Role of Press Agencies in Circulating New Historical Narratives and Restructuring Collective Memory during and after Holocaust Transitional Justice.” Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism 17(7): 823–844. https://doi.org/10.1177/146488491559240
Herfroy-Mischler, Alexandra, and Elie Friedman. 2021. “The Media Framing of Blame Agency in Asymmetric Conflict: Who is Blaming Whom for the 2014 Israeli-Palestinian Peace Negotiations Failure?” Journalism Studies 21(13): 1873–1892. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1797526
Herfroy-Mischler, Alexandra, and Elie Friedman. 2020. “The ‘Blame Game’ Frame: Ethical Blame Patterns and Media Framing upon Negotiations Failure in the Middle East.” Journalism 21(9): 1192–1211. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884918791219
Herfroy-Mischler, Alexandra, and Andrew Barr. 2019. “Jihadist Visual Communication Strategy: ISIL's Hostage Executions Video Production.” Visual Communication 18(4): 519–548. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357218803396
Herfroy-Mischler, Alexandra, and Andrew Barr. 2018. “ISIL's Execution Videos: Audience Segmentation and Terrorist Communication in the Digital Age.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 41(12): 946–967. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2017.1361282
Herfroy-Mischler, Alexandra. 2015. "Silencing the Agenda? Journalism Practices and Intelligence Events: A Case Study." Media, War and Conflict 8(2): 244-263. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635215584285.
Chapter:
Herfroy-Mischler, Alexandra. 2013. “Post-Transitional Apology: Expressing Contrition Whilst Addressing the Holocaust Transitional Justice’s Failure.” In Public Apology between Ritual and Regret, Edited by Daniel Cuypers, Daniel, Janssen, Jacques Haers, and Barbara Segaert, 167-188. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401209533_010