Stéphane Leman-Langlois | Université Laval (original) (raw)
Papers by Stéphane Leman-Langlois
This paper examines the implications of contemporary developments in the structures and practices... more This paper examines the implications of contemporary developments in the structures and practices of policing (both state and non-state) -particularly innovations in technologies of prevention -for human rights protections. In exploring the up-take of available prevention and repression practices, the chapter will distinguish between potential and actual use of control strategies. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implication of the developments canvassed for the capacity of established regulatory mechanisms to function as effective sources of human rights protection and considers what might be done to enhance the effectiveness of these protections within the contemporary security environment.
Law and Social Inquiry-journal of The American Bar Foundation, 2002
This paper analyzes the function acquired by the historical Nuremberg trial in the constitution o... more This paper analyzes the function acquired by the historical Nuremberg trial in the constitution of a specific discourse about transitional South Africa and about what should be done about the brutality of the past. This function is best described as mythical: emptied of content, Nuremberg was a blank slate on which all parties to the debate could write their conflicting representations of the situation and their respective proposed solutions. The organization of fundamentally incompatible representations of reality around unifying myths such as Nuremberg was key to the production of visible consensus on the proper evaluation of the sociopolitical situation and the basic characteristics of the right course of action, and thus the appearance of effective state administration in a reconciled nation.
Policing & Society - POLIC SOC, 2002
The article describes the possible effects of video surveillance and related technologies on poli... more The article describes the possible effects of video surveillance and related technologies on policing, not at the instrumental level but from a symbolic perspective. It is shown that actual effectiveness of the technology has little impact on procurement and development, that it is the discourse of surveillance that is transforming official social control. The vision of crime afforded by the camera is "myopic" because it reduces crime to behavior and crime control to incident response; and doing so threatens to transform policing into a purely reactive activity inspired by military standards and technologies.
Deviance Et Societe, 2003
La création de la Commission vérité et réconciliation en Afrique du Sud, à l'issue d'un processus... more La création de la Commission vérité et réconciliation en Afrique du Sud, à l'issue d'un processus politique difficile, a nécessité l'adoption généralisée de l'idée de « justice post-conflictuelle ». Ceci a apporté une nuance lourde de conséquences dans la représentation du passé et de l'apartheid, voulant que la source du problème ait été un conflit armé autour du pouvoir politique, rejetant l'ancien discours d'oppression/dépossession de la majorité noire. Dans cette optique, la « justice » n'avait plus pour objet un ensemble de criminels mais bien les séquelles d'une quasi-guerre civile.
Knowledge, Technology & Policy, 2004
This paper examines the construction of claims in an effort to mobilize state activity and crimin... more This paper examines the construction of claims in an effort to mobilize state activity and criminal sanction to control a newly problematized form of behavior, the sharing of musical files over the World Wide Web. With documents from Canada, the United States, and other countries a process of redefinition of technologies, practices, and multiple other elements such as benefits, harm, competition, etc. is identified and analyzed. The conclusion shows that the problem and its solutions, especially those involving recourse to the criminal justice system, stem from this process rather than from objectively identifiable facts, conditions, or situations.
This paper examines the implications of contemporary developments in the structures and practices... more This paper examines the implications of contemporary developments in the structures and practices of policing (both state and non-state) -particularly innovations in technologies of prevention -for human rights protections. In exploring the up-take of available prevention and repression practices, the chapter will distinguish between potential and actual use of control strategies. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implication of the developments canvassed for the capacity of established regulatory mechanisms to function as effective sources of human rights protection and considers what might be done to enhance the effectiveness of these protections within the contemporary security environment.
Law and Social Inquiry-journal of The American Bar Foundation, 2002
This paper analyzes the function acquired by the historical Nuremberg trial in the constitution o... more This paper analyzes the function acquired by the historical Nuremberg trial in the constitution of a specific discourse about transitional South Africa and about what should be done about the brutality of the past. This function is best described as mythical: emptied of content, Nuremberg was a blank slate on which all parties to the debate could write their conflicting representations of the situation and their respective proposed solutions. The organization of fundamentally incompatible representations of reality around unifying myths such as Nuremberg was key to the production of visible consensus on the proper evaluation of the sociopolitical situation and the basic characteristics of the right course of action, and thus the appearance of effective state administration in a reconciled nation.
Policing & Society - POLIC SOC, 2002
The article describes the possible effects of video surveillance and related technologies on poli... more The article describes the possible effects of video surveillance and related technologies on policing, not at the instrumental level but from a symbolic perspective. It is shown that actual effectiveness of the technology has little impact on procurement and development, that it is the discourse of surveillance that is transforming official social control. The vision of crime afforded by the camera is "myopic" because it reduces crime to behavior and crime control to incident response; and doing so threatens to transform policing into a purely reactive activity inspired by military standards and technologies.
Deviance Et Societe, 2003
La création de la Commission vérité et réconciliation en Afrique du Sud, à l'issue d'un processus... more La création de la Commission vérité et réconciliation en Afrique du Sud, à l'issue d'un processus politique difficile, a nécessité l'adoption généralisée de l'idée de « justice post-conflictuelle ». Ceci a apporté une nuance lourde de conséquences dans la représentation du passé et de l'apartheid, voulant que la source du problème ait été un conflit armé autour du pouvoir politique, rejetant l'ancien discours d'oppression/dépossession de la majorité noire. Dans cette optique, la « justice » n'avait plus pour objet un ensemble de criminels mais bien les séquelles d'une quasi-guerre civile.
Knowledge, Technology & Policy, 2004
This paper examines the construction of claims in an effort to mobilize state activity and crimin... more This paper examines the construction of claims in an effort to mobilize state activity and criminal sanction to control a newly problematized form of behavior, the sharing of musical files over the World Wide Web. With documents from Canada, the United States, and other countries a process of redefinition of technologies, practices, and multiple other elements such as benefits, harm, competition, etc. is identified and analyzed. The conclusion shows that the problem and its solutions, especially those involving recourse to the criminal justice system, stem from this process rather than from objectively identifiable facts, conditions, or situations.