Bernhardt argues that revenge is not a relic of the past, but a socially significant phenomenon that continues to shape how we perceive justice — often by projecting the idea of revenge onto “other” cultures. He highlights the racialized double standard in media discourse: when femicides occur in migrant contexts, they are labelled as “honor killings”; in the German majority context, the same acts are described as “family tragedies”.

Rather than justifying revenge, Bernhardt calls for a more honest engagement with its underlying logics — as a way of better understanding the emotional undercurrents of modern justice.