What is the impact of counter-radicalization policies on minority membership in France? Probably more than any country in Europe, in France, the question of terrorism and radicalization has been... Show moreWhat is the impact of counter-radicalization policies on minority membership in France? Probably more than any country in Europe, in France, the question of terrorism and radicalization has been inseparable from that of the accommodation of the Muslim minority – a debate structured around the French interpretation of universalist secularism, or laïcité. Laïcité is presented as both a principle of terrorism prevention and an ideal to safeguard. Avoiding communautarisme, the retreat of minority populations into cultural and political segregation, is what is at stake. If we follow this logic, counter-radicalization policies should be one step further into France’s assimilationist and resolutely anti-multiculturalist system. Drawing on fieldwork in two suburbs on the outskirts of Paris, Pantin and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, this article argues however that current practices of everyday anti-terror policing end up enacting precisely what they are trying to avoid, resulting instead in what I define as “policed multiculturalism”. Show less
Ragazzi, F.P.S.M.; Kuskonmaz, E.; Plájás, I.; Ven, R.R. van de; Wagner, B. 2021
The aim of this report is to establish a problematised overview of what we know about what is currently being done in Europe when it comes to remote biometric identification (RBI), and to assess in... Show moreThe aim of this report is to establish a problematised overview of what we know about what is currently being done in Europe when it comes to remote biometric identification (RBI), and to assess in which cases we could potentially fall into forms of biometric mass surveillance. Show less
Questions about how algorithms contribute to (in)security are under discussion across international political sociology. Building upon and adding to these debates, our collective discussion... Show moreQuestions about how algorithms contribute to (in)security are under discussion across international political sociology. Building upon and adding to these debates, our collective discussion foregrounds questions about algorithmic violence. We argue that it is important to examine how algorithmic systems feed (into) specific forms of violence, and how they justify violent actions or redefine what forms of violence are deemed legitimate. Bringing together different disciplinary and conceptual vantage points, this collective discussion opens a conversation about algorithmic violence focusing both on its specific instances and on the challenges that arise in conceptualizing and studying it. Overall, the discussion converges on three areas of concern—the violence undergirding the creation and feeding of data infrastructures; the translation processes at play in the use of computer/machine vision across diverse security practices; and the institutional governing of algorithmic violence, especially its organization, limitation, and legitimation. Our two-fold aim is to show the potential of a cross-disciplinary conversation and to move toward an interactional research agenda. While our approaches diverge, they also enrich each other. Ultimately, we highlight the critical purchase of studying the role of algorithmic violence in the fabric of the international through a situated analysis of algorithmic systems as part of complex, and often messy, practices. Show less
Comment étudier l’institutionnalisation d’un espace européen de liberté, de sécurité et de justice ? L’option la plus immédiate consiste sans doute à retracer la genèse d’institutions spécifiques ... Show moreComment étudier l’institutionnalisation d’un espace européen de liberté, de sécurité et de justice ? L’option la plus immédiate consiste sans doute à retracer la genèse d’institutions spécifiques (comme Europol ou Eurojust) ou celle de procédures communes (le mandat d’arrêt européen par exemple) et, le cas échéant, à s’interroger sur leurs effets sur les droits pénaux, ainsi que sur le travail des forces de l’ordre et des magistrats des Etats membres.A condition de prendre une distance par rapport aux prophéties politiques des pères fondateurs de l’Europe (l’intégration comme sens de l’histoire) et des multiples rationalisations académiques qui les accompagnent, ces sociogenèses permettent de rendre compte des agencements singuliers dans lesquelles ces réalisations voient le jour, où s’entremêlent des intérêts hétérogènes, se nouent des coalitions spécifiques et s’articulent des rapports de forces particuliers. En effet, s’il existe bien des « entrepreneurs d’Europe » dans les champs politiques et bureaucratiques nationaux, dans des groupes d’intérêt (des syndicats aux ONG) ou dans des institutions communautaires, leur activisme ne suffit pas à comprendre les évolutions observables. Penser en termes de configuration – pour reprendre le concept de Norbert Elias – permet au contraire de réintroduire de la contingence et surtout de rendre compte relationnellement de ce qui se joue simultanément ou successivement dans des espaces différents, trop souvent isolés dans l’analyse (comme le proposent les travaux en terme « d’échelle », locale, nationale ou européenne… Show less
Ragazzi, F.P.S.M.; Davidshofer, S.; Perret, S.; Tawfik, A. 2018
On 30 November 2017, the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Terrorism (TERR) requested that the Ex-Post Evaluation Unit (EVAL) of the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European... Show moreOn 30 November 2017, the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Terrorism (TERR) requested that the Ex-Post Evaluation Unit (EVAL) of the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) prepare a study on Member States' approaches to the return of foreign fighters to EU soil. This study is divided in two parts. The first part was prepared in-house by the Ex-Post Evaluation Unit (EVAL) and provides background information to understanding the EU context in which the issue of foreign fighters is being discussed. The second part is an outsourced study that focuses on the following six Member States: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK). This study will feed into the committee's work. Show less
