Showing papers by "Didier Bigo published in 2007"

Political sociology and the problem of the international

Abstract: This paper revisits the multiple theoretical antagonisms mobilised by a claimed opposition between the international and the global/local so as to elaborate the stakes of working through traditions of political sociology that have been marginalised in most forms of international relations theory. The paper especially addresses the contribution of recent work on the social production of limits and borders and the re-articulation of practices of exception. Resisting conventions of international theory predicated on Schmittian accounts of limits in territory and law, the paper assesses recent claims about sovereignty, security and liberty informed by a reflection about the way concepts of field and dispositif may be used in an analysis of the boundaries of contemporary politics. To this end, the paper draws attention to the topology of a moebius ribbon as an especially suggestive comparison with topologies affirming clear distinctions between internal and external sites of sociopolitical life.

International Political Sociology

Abstract: This journal responds to a broadly acknowledged sense that scholars engaging with problems understood to be international in scale and character increasingly reach beyond the established resources of the institutionalized discipline of international relations. Specifically, it responds to the judgment that much is to be gained by engaging with sociology and social theory as broad arenas of scholarship that have so far played only a marginal role in the development of international relations as an institutionalized discipline. The three terms that make up the title of the journal—international, political and sociology—are intended to work, in part, to affirm such expectations. Sociological traditions have indeed been neglected in and even assumed to be insignificant for the analysis of international relations and we think that much is to be gained by engaging with them now. Similarly, we think that sociological scholarship might usefully extend its engagement with literatures on international relations, for reasons that are at least equally pressing. In this respect, we hope that the journal will be able to play an encouraging role in bringing together important scholarly communities that do seem to have much in common even if interaction and collaboration have so far been rather sporadic. This is not, however, the limit of our ambition for the opportunities we hope will be opened up through this new venture: a venture, we want to stress at the outset, in which we have been supported by so many extraordinary people. We recognize that the discipline of international relations has long been characterized by powerful currents of interdisciplinarity. It would nevertheless be fair to say that it also remains closely tied to specific traditions of political science in ways that still seem to inhibit appreciation of other disciplinary resources, sociology and social theory among them. It has also been losing some …

Borderscapes: Hidden Geographies and Politics at Territory's Edge

Abstract: Dowry is a succinct, but thorough look at the expansion of dowry practices and the inflation of dowry payments when families begin the process of finding a suitable partner for their son or daughter in Southeast Asia. This book has its roots in the Dowry Project, which seeks to share and encourage research in dowry, and dowry-related issues in South Asia and the diaspora. According to Dowry, in Southeast Asia marriage is considered the only proper course in life for women and parents are willing to do anything to help their daughter’s transition along this path. Women are not enabled by law to inherit land after their parent’s death, but dowry acts as a type of pre-mortem inheritance made up of goods that they are able to take with them to their in-laws’ house upon marriage. Dowry examines the tension between the protection women feel they need from these goods as well as the desire to break free from this system that degrades their value. While patriarchy is discussed as a both a cause and perpetuator of dowries, men are not blamed, but are given a fair and balanced look as people who are caught up in a system that they do not know how to change. Various activist interventions are discussed and the potential of future interventions and failure of previous interventions is examined. Dowry seeks to bridge the gap between research and practice and explain the tenable positions that all actors in the system face. Both macro and micro tensions are discussed as the roles of religion, economics, education and family pressures are put into perspective. For those who seek a glimpse into this world from a multitude of perspectives, Dowry is a strong choice. Generations: The Time Machine in Theory and Practice, by Judith Burnett. Surrey, UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2010. 150pp. $99.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780754674566.

The Changing Landscape of European Liberty and Security: Mid-Term Report on the Results of the CHALLENGE Project. CEPS CHALLENGE Paper, No. 4, 14 February 2007

Abstract: The CHALLENGE project responds to widespread concerns about the resort to specific illiberal practices by contemporary liberal regimes. These practices are linked with the identification of increasing insecurities globally, insecurities that are widely interpreted as obliging sterner policies from the authorities and, consequently, new constraints on principles of liberty under law and presumptions about the innocence of individuals. Specifically, the project examines tensions created by claims that ‘security is the first freedom’ and that a new ‘balance’ has to be established to manage the global scale of contemporary dangers. The project focuses on the justification of these policies and constraints on grounds of emergency, necessity and prevention in a radically transformed global environment, and the impact these policies have on civil liberties, political rights and social cohesion.

Editorial. Circulation et archipels de l’exception

Abstract: Ce numero de Cultures & Conflits n’est pas un numero thematique, contrairement a notre habitude Neanmoins, malgre l’heterogeneite de contributions venant de divers colloques et de textes proposes spontanement a la revue, il existe une sorte de fil d’Ariane qui court entre les articles et qui est sans doute le reflet du monde contemporain ainsi que des preoccupations de nombre de chercheurs quant aux implications de certaines pratiques sur les libertes contemporaines Ce fil d’Ariane concern

De « l'état d'exception »

Abstract: Mettant en discussion l’approche d’Agamben l’auteur trouve qu’elle ouvre des perspectives nouvelles dans le cadre de l’analyse des specificites du present et va au-dela des approches legalistes du droit qu’a le president americain de declarer ou non l’etat d’urgence et de prendre des mesures comme celles du decret militaire du 13 novembre 2001. Reprenant d’autres auteurs, il considere que la notion d’etat d’exception permet de comprendre pourquoi le gouvernement americain se considere comme etant au-dessus de la loi, et surtout beaucoup plus au-dessus de la loi internationale plutot qu’au-dessus de sa propre constitution.Cela apporte un eclairage sur le pourquoi de Guantanamo et d’Abu Ghrib qui ne sont pas a comprendre comme des aberrations mais comme des « modeles d’une nouvelle forme de gouvernance ». Ce qui est essentiel, c’est la latitude que l’on a de juger si oui ou non il faut decider de l’instauration de l’exception, de la restriction de la liberte et de la suspension des normes.De nombreuses personnes resistent a cette propagande qui prone l’idee que l’urgence est devenue la regle et qu’on ne peut plus faire la difference entre la guerre et la paix. La Force de Loi peut etre utilisee comme moyen de resistance contre l’exceptionnalisme et contre cette strategie qui consiste a reduire des prisonniers a l’etat de vie nue, ou encore de facon plus adequate a reformuler les lois dont ils dependent en donnant plus de pouvoir aux militaires et surtout aux services de securite et moins de pouvoir aux juges et aux avocats.

L'évolution du paysage européen en matière de liberté et de sécurité : rapport à mi-parcours sur le projet challenge

Abstract: Nous nous proposons de soumettre a une evaluation critique les libertes des citoyens et des autres habitants de l’UE, et la facon dont elles sont affectees par la multiplication des discours sur l’insecurite, ainsi que les pratiques rassurantes, protectrices et coercitives des gouvernements et des organismes transnationaux adoptees au nom de la securite des citoyens ou de la collectivite. La presente etude decrit l’echange d’informations sur l’identite des citoyens au moyen de nouvelles techniques de surveillance et de controle, ainsi que son role central. Elle analyse tout d’abord la radicalisation manifeste de formes specifiques de violence politique transnationale et les effets qui en resultent sur les politiques liberales ; puis les evaluations de la menace effectuees au moyen des technologies de gestion du risque et des nouvelles technologies de surveillance ; l’evolution des formes prises par la logique de suspicion et les pratiques derogatoires et d’exception, en particulier par rapport aux conceptions bien etablies de l’etat de droit, a la reconstruction multidimensionnelle et permanente de l’ennemi?; ensuite leurs effets sur les droits et libertes des nationaux et des etrangers ; enfin le rapport existant entre l’impact interne et l’impact externe des pratiques illiberales, dans le contexte des relations trans-atlantiques en particulier, mais aussi dans celui d’un ordre mondial de plus en plus interconnecte, et la place qu’y occupe l’Union europeenne.