Showing papers by "Didier Bigo published in 2014"

The (in)securitization practices of the three universes of EU border control: Military/Navy – border guards/police – database analysts

Abstract: What practices of (in)securitization involve the notions of border and border control in the European Union? How do these practices operate? How are they assembled? In the resulting assemblage, is the notion of borders – understood as state borders – still relevant for the control of individuals and populations moving across the frontiers of the EU? Drawing on empirical observations and with a specific focus on how border control is translated into different social universes, this article seeks to show that practices of control are routinely embedded in a practical sense that informs what controlling borders does and means. This practical sense is itself informed by different professional habitus and work routines involving deterrence and the use of force, interrogation and detention, surveillance of populations on the move and the profiling of (un)trusted travellers. Its strength varies in relation to its shared dimension by most of the operators, and is adjusted to the materiality of borders as well as ...

After Snowden: Rethinking the Impact of Surveillance

Abstract: Current revelations about the secret US-NSA program, PRISM, have confirmed the large-scale mass surveillance of the telecommunication and electronic messages of governments, companies, and citizens, including the United States' closest allies in Europe and Latin America. The transnational ramifications of surveillance call for a re-evaluation of contemporary world politics' practices. The debate cannot be limited to the United States versus the rest of the world or to surveillance versus privacy; much more is at stake. This collective article briefly describes the specificities of cyber mass surveillance, including its mix of the practices of intelligence services and those of private companies providing services around the world. It then investigates the impact of these practices on national security, diplomacy, human rights, democracy, subjectivity, and obedience.

Preventing and countering youth radicalisation in the EU

Abstract: Upon request by the LIBE Committee, this study focuses on the question of how to best prevent youth radicalisation in the EU It evaluates counter-radicalisation policies, both in terms of their efficiency and their broader social and political impact Building on a conception of radicalisation as a process of escalation, it highlights the need to take into account the relation between individuals, groups and state responses In this light, it forefronts some of the shortcomings of current policies, such as the difficulties of reporting individuals on the grounds of uncertain assessments of danger and the problem of attributing political grievances to ethnic and religious specificities Finally, the study highlights the ambiguous nature of pro-active administrative practices and exceptional counter-terrorism legislation and their potentially damaging effects in terms of fundamental rights

National Security and Secret Evidence in Legislation and before the Courts: Exploring the Challenges

Abstract: This study provides a comparative analysis of the national legal regimes and practices governing the use of intelligence information as evidence in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. It explores notably how national security can be invoked to determine the classification of information and evidence as 'state secrets' in court proceedings and whether such laws and practices are fundamental rightsand rule of law-compliant. The study finds that, in the majority of Member States under investigation, the judiciary is significantly hindered in effectively adjudicating justice and guaranteeing the rights of the defence in ‘national security’ cases. The research also illustrates that the very term ‘national security’ is nebulously defined across the Member States analysed, with no national definition meeting legal certainty and “in accordance with the law” standards and a clear risk that the executive and secret services may act arbitrarily. The study argues that national and transnational intelligence community practices and cooperation need to be subject to more independent and effective judicial accountability and be brought into line with EU 'rule of law' standards.

Review of Security Measures in the 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7) 2007-2013

Abstract: Upon request by the LIBE Committee, this study analyses how the public-private dialogue has been framed and shaped and examines the priorities set up in calls and projects that have received funding from the European Commission under the security theme of the 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7 20072013). In particular, this study addresses two main questions: to what extent is security research placed at the service of citizens? To what extent does it contribute to the development of a single area of fundamental rights and freedoms? The study finds that security research has only partly addressed the concerns of EU citizens and that security research has been mainly put at the service of industry rather than society.

Critique de la raison criminologique

Abstract: Pour le sociologue ou le politiste francais, l’expression meme de « criminologie » sonne au premier abord comme un peu etrange et un peu ridicule. Pourquoi separer des comportements – criminels en l’occurrence – de l’ensemble des relations sociales dans lesquelles ils sont encastres et en faire un champ d’etude specifique ? Si la criminologie se focalise seulement sur le crime, elle n’a guere plus de sens qu’une « anorexicologie », une « suicidologie » ou une « mariagologie », respectivement ...

Human Rights: Freedom of Movement, Migration and Asylum in a Security Context

Abstract: Session 1: “Make Law, Not War”: the post second world war legacy and the making of human rights The first session will describe the socio-genesis and the structural conditions of the tension between security and human rights. After the second world war, the question of the refugees re-emerges with a strong sense of emergency. The idea of the right of any state to do war for his own purpose was severely challenged. States will have to justify their actions in front of the international community represented at the United Nations. The victims of war and of fear of persecution by dictatorial regimes were taken into consideration. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights were drafted. The change of the climate during the cold war transformed Human Rights with both its juridicisation and its encroachment in legal terms on one side, but also its politicisation through the use by the West of a discourse of human rights against the totalitarian regimes. Its instrumentalisation by governments was exacerbated during the 1970s and 80s, while the development of strong International Non Governmental Organisations permitted to transform legal commitments and ethical obligations into a set of effective practices concerning independence of the judiciary, habeas corpus, fair trial, rights for asylum seekers, that were monitored by NGOs and transnational social movements. They constrained the claims of legitimacy of most of the states, internationally and it has created a split between some bureaucracies and ministries that try to stop the movement toward a judicialisation of human rights to keep they capacity to act in secret and in the name of the reason of state (home affairs, intelligence service, some politicians), and other bureaucracies that consider that global governance and rule of law including accountability and transparency are a central feature of 21st century ( ministries of social