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Peer-reviewed Papers by Samuel Tanner

Global Crime, 2019

Vigilantism is defined as collective coercive practices carried out by non-state actors and inten... more Vigilantism is defined as collective coercive practices carried out by non-state actors and intended to enforce norms (social or judicial) or to act directly to enforce such actors’ views of the law. Vigilantes are involved in both societal control and the fight against crime. In this article, we analyse how societal vigilantes use digital media (Facebook) to act on immigration, national identity, ethnic boundaries, and cultural values in the province of Quebec, Canada. We show how social media practices entail performative effects that should not be considered exclusively in terms of physical expression, such as gatherings of dispersed constituen- cies, as in, for example, the Arab Spring, but also in relation to the construction of boundaries and increased polarisation between social groups. These latter effects have real consequences, such as separating one element of the population (Muslims) from the moral obligation social groups have towards each other in society.

New Media & Society, 2019

The Internet poses a number of challenges for academics. Internet specificities such as anonymity... more The Internet poses a number of challenges for academics. Internet specificities such as anonymity, the decontextualisation of discourse, the misuse or non-use of references raise methodological questions about the quality and the authenticity of the data available online. This is particularly true when dealing with extremist groups and grass- root militants that cultivate secrecy. Based on a study of the far-right on Twitter, this article explores these methodological issues. It discusses the qualitative indicators we have developed to determine whether a given Twitter account should be included in the sample or not. By using digital traces drawn from profiles, interactions, content and through other visual information, we recontextualize user’s profile and analyze how digital traces participate in providing far right ideas with a wider representation.

Global Crime, 2017

Much has been written about the governance of crime – indeed, this is the thread that has unified... more Much has been written about the governance of crime – indeed, this is the thread that has unified criminology. Yet, property crimes and attacks against individuals – traditionally at the core of the discipline – are plummeting in many societies. Meanwhile, harms and harm management emerge outside the narrowness of crim- inal justice definitions. Despite this, little criminological attention has been paid to the fact that the security of flows increasingly embodies concerns that are at the heart of contemporary policing practices. This introduction to this special issue takes stock of these changes and argues that to stay current and relevant, crim- inology must pay closer attention to these changing landscapes of harms and policing.

The activities of combatants in paramilitary groups in Colombia can be seen as 'dirty work' that ... more The activities of combatants in paramilitary groups in Colombia can be seen as 'dirty work' that acts as a form of social control. We study the experiences and representations of former combat-ants concerning violence perpetrated by their groups against 'outsiders', arguing that the rhetoric of paramilitary groups not only plays a role in denying crimes. It makes possible for combatants to dignify the dirty work of paramilitary activities, but also offers an opportunity to study social control in Colombia in times of economic transnationalization and neo-conservatism.

Mobile technologies have brought about major changes in police equipment and police work. If a ut... more Mobile technologies have brought about major changes in police equipment and police work. If a utopian narrative remains strongly linked to the adoption of new technologies, often formulated as ‘magic bullets’ to real occupational problems, there are important tensions between their ‘imagined’ outcomes and the (unexpected) effects that accompany their daily ‘practical’ use by police officers. This article offers an analysis of police officers’ perceptions and interactions with security devices. In so doing, it develops a conceptual typology of strategies for coping with new technology inspired by Le Bourhis and Lascoumes: challenging, neutralizing and diverting. To that purpose, we adopt an ethnographic approach that focuses on the discourses, practices and actions of police officers in relation to three security devices: the mobile digital terminal, the mobile phone and the body camera. Based on a case study of a North American municipal police department, the article addresses how these technological devices are perceived and experienced by police officers on the beat.

The activities of combatants in paramilitary groups in Colombia can be seen as ‘dirty work’ that ... more The activities of combatants in paramilitary groups in Colombia can be seen as ‘dirty work’ that acts as a form of social control. We study the experiences and representations of former combatants concerning violence perpetrated by their groups against ‘outsiders’, arguing that the rhetoric of paramilitary groups not only plays a role in denying crimes. It makes possible for combatants to dignify the dirty work of paramilitary activities, but also offers an opportunity to study social control in Colombia in times of economic transnationalization and neo-conservatism.

Policing and Society, 2014

Based on a case study on the metamorphosis of a private security company responsible for the prot... more Based on a case study on the metamorphosis of a private security company responsible for the protection of oil wells during the Yugoslav Serbo–Croat conflict that became an armed band—the Scorpions—we show that this type of organization crystallizes mutually beneficial games that play out between a central power and those involved in local crime of low intensity. These organizations constitute the central players in a politicization of civilian crime and a privatization of political crime—genocide and crimes against humanity constituting the extreme forms. The involvement of private actors such as the Scorpions in armed conflict is considered in the fusion of instrumental and normative logic—a common element in all forms of mercenarism.

Criminologie, 2012

Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la mobilisation et la participation d'une bande armée -... more Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la mobilisation et la participation d'une bande armée -les Scorpions -dans les événements qui se sont produits en ex-Yougoslavie, durant les années 1990. Si l'étude de cette fi gure centrale des crimes de masse est nécessaire à la compréhension de ce phénomène et, ultimement, à sa prévention, elle se justifi e aussi d'un point de vue épistémologique : plutôt que d'ancrer une réfl exion sur l'individu et ses motivations, démarche courante pour une crimino logie dominante centrée sur les préoccupations sécuritaires des sociétés occidentales, nous postulons que c'est à partir du groupe et de la nature éminemment collective et politique de cette forme de criminalité extrême que la réfl exion sur les dynamiques d'élimination de populations entières doit s'amorcer. Cette démarche permet la genèse de connaissances plus spécifi ques et un regard nouveau sur la criminalité de masse. MOTS-CLÉS • Violence de masse, ex-Yougoslavie, Scorpions, bandes armées, radicalisation, sécurité privée. Criminologie, vol. 45, n o 1 (2012)

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2009

Déviance et Société, 2007

Saisir la violence de masse : le nettoyage ethnique en Bosnie et l'apport d'une perspective local... more Saisir la violence de masse : le nettoyage ethnique en Bosnie et l'apport d'une perspective locale et d'une approche de réseau par Samuel TANNER | Mé d ecin e e t Hygi è n e | Dé v i a nce e t Soci é t é 2007/3 -Volum e 31 ISSN 0378-7931 | pages 235 à 256 Pour citer cet article : -Tanner S., Saisir la violence de masse : le nettoyage ethnique en Bosnie et l'apport d'une perspective locale et d'une approche de réseau, Déviance e t Socié t é 2007/3, Volume 31, p. 235-256. Distribution électronique Cairn pour Médecine et Hygiène. © Médecine et Hygiène. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays. La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit. La compréhension de l'élimination d'une population est généralement envisagée comme résultant d'un plan intentionnel, « d'en haut », coordonné par une série d'institutions étatiques et constituant alors le crime et le paradigme de génocide. Cette perspective, héritage des études traitant l'Holocauste, est ici pondérée dans le contexte du nettoyage ethnique de Bosnie-Herzégovine entre 1992 et 1995 par une approche de réseau et une perspective de « terroir » qui tiennent à la fois compte d'un redéploiement du pouvoir de coercition sur une multitude de gens armés et des dynamiques locales animant les exécutants. Par isomorphisme, ces approches peuvent alimenter la réflexion sur le processus de justice de transition. 1

Global Crime, 2007

Participation in mass crime is often approached from a top-down perspective that centralizes the ... more Participation in mass crime is often approached from a top-down perspective that centralizes the actions of the masses under the order of elites and leaders. While there is some evidence to support this approach, a more complete assessment of participation in mass crime must also consider the grassroots contingencies that unite the collective motivation and capacity that induce such actions. Such a bottoms-up approach is developed in this article with a particular focus on the personal experiences of former Serbian militiamen who took part in scenes of mass violence in Croatia and Bosnia–Herzegovina. Interviews with former militiamen illustrate how political opportunities, diverging nationalistic attitudes, proximity to growing violence in increasingly localized killing fields, incentives to participate in parallel criminal activities, and an influence within community networks that were submerged in mass crimes united to legitimize and facilitate their personal commitment to the events that took place in this region during the 1990s.

Global Crime, 2011

In this article, I focus on the logic whereby a group of eight Hutu became involved in mass viole... more In this article, I focus on the logic whereby a group of eight Hutu became involved in mass violence during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. This process is considered as a sequence of meaningful events that progressively shaped the actors' frame of analysis. As such, each sequence brings a new qualitative reality which, in turn, constitutes the platform upon which the involvement in, and the perpetration of, mass violence become acceptable and legitimate in the eyes of the perpetrators. Based on both Howard S. Becker's notion of career and Roger Petersen's analysis of resistance and rebellion, I disaggregate the entire process of participation in mass violence into a sequence of six mechanisms, generating two main phases. The first one, mobilisation, refers to the movement from a neutral state to a mobilised state. The second phase, collective action, covers the drift from mobilisation to action, namely, killings.

International Review of The Red Cross, 2008

This article discusses sanctions for and the prevention of mass violence. But rather than take a ... more This article discusses sanctions for and the prevention of mass violence. But rather than take a classic approach centred on statutory players such as soldiers, officers or political leaders, all of them acting within a legal chain of command, I focus on nonstate perpetrators. My reflections are based on case studies of four former Serbian militiamen who took part in mass violence in the former Yugoslavia. I argue that it is of the utmost importance to consider the typical grass-roots relationship between these local players and their own community, so as to maximize the effect of sanctions and perhaps prevent further offences by potential future perpetrators.

Papers by Samuel Tanner

Études internationales, May 23, 2019

Cette note de recherche propose un état des connaissances sur les rapports entre multinationales,... more Cette note de recherche propose un état des connaissances sur les rapports entre multinationales, compagnies privées de sécurité et autorités publiques dans le secteur de l'extraction minière ou pétrolière. Les sites que gèrent les entreprises extractives sont souvent situés dans des zones de conflits, des territoires contestés ou sujets à l'instabilité politique, c'est-à-dire dans des États faibles. L'objectif de cette note est de mobiliser une littérature florissante et une expertise embryonnaire en mettant l'accent sur les relations entre acteurs publics et privés en matière de sécurité. Elle montre d'abord comment le principe de responsabilité sociale des entreprises, influent dans le secteur extractif, est à l'origine de pratiques discursives et opérationnelles liées à la sécurité de plus en plus répandues. Puis elle présente des points de vue contrastés sur la nature et la portée de la coopération entre États faibles et industries. Enfin, elle décrit les assemblages qui émergent entre multinationales, compagnies privées de sécurité et autorités publiques dans les États faibles, mettant en lumière de nouvelles pratiques hybrides de sécurité.

Global Crime, 2019

Vigilantism is defined as collective coercive practices carried out by non-state actors and inten... more Vigilantism is defined as collective coercive practices carried out by non-state actors and intended to enforce norms (social or judicial) or to act directly to enforce such actors’ views of the law. Vigilantes are involved in both societal control and the fight against crime. In this article, we analyse how societal vigilantes use digital media (Facebook) to act on immigration, national identity, ethnic boundaries, and cultural values in the province of Quebec, Canada. We show how social media practices entail performative effects that should not be considered exclusively in terms of physical expression, such as gatherings of dispersed constituen- cies, as in, for example, the Arab Spring, but also in relation to the construction of boundaries and increased polarisation between social groups. These latter effects have real consequences, such as separating one element of the population (Muslims) from the moral obligation social groups have towards each other in society.

New Media & Society, 2019

The Internet poses a number of challenges for academics. Internet specificities such as anonymity... more The Internet poses a number of challenges for academics. Internet specificities such as anonymity, the decontextualisation of discourse, the misuse or non-use of references raise methodological questions about the quality and the authenticity of the data available online. This is particularly true when dealing with extremist groups and grass- root militants that cultivate secrecy. Based on a study of the far-right on Twitter, this article explores these methodological issues. It discusses the qualitative indicators we have developed to determine whether a given Twitter account should be included in the sample or not. By using digital traces drawn from profiles, interactions, content and through other visual information, we recontextualize user’s profile and analyze how digital traces participate in providing far right ideas with a wider representation.

Global Crime, 2017

Much has been written about the governance of crime – indeed, this is the thread that has unified... more Much has been written about the governance of crime – indeed, this is the thread that has unified criminology. Yet, property crimes and attacks against individuals – traditionally at the core of the discipline – are plummeting in many societies. Meanwhile, harms and harm management emerge outside the narrowness of crim- inal justice definitions. Despite this, little criminological attention has been paid to the fact that the security of flows increasingly embodies concerns that are at the heart of contemporary policing practices. This introduction to this special issue takes stock of these changes and argues that to stay current and relevant, crim- inology must pay closer attention to these changing landscapes of harms and policing.

The activities of combatants in paramilitary groups in Colombia can be seen as 'dirty work' that ... more The activities of combatants in paramilitary groups in Colombia can be seen as 'dirty work' that acts as a form of social control. We study the experiences and representations of former combat-ants concerning violence perpetrated by their groups against 'outsiders', arguing that the rhetoric of paramilitary groups not only plays a role in denying crimes. It makes possible for combatants to dignify the dirty work of paramilitary activities, but also offers an opportunity to study social control in Colombia in times of economic transnationalization and neo-conservatism.

Mobile technologies have brought about major changes in police equipment and police work. If a ut... more Mobile technologies have brought about major changes in police equipment and police work. If a utopian narrative remains strongly linked to the adoption of new technologies, often formulated as ‘magic bullets’ to real occupational problems, there are important tensions between their ‘imagined’ outcomes and the (unexpected) effects that accompany their daily ‘practical’ use by police officers. This article offers an analysis of police officers’ perceptions and interactions with security devices. In so doing, it develops a conceptual typology of strategies for coping with new technology inspired by Le Bourhis and Lascoumes: challenging, neutralizing and diverting. To that purpose, we adopt an ethnographic approach that focuses on the discourses, practices and actions of police officers in relation to three security devices: the mobile digital terminal, the mobile phone and the body camera. Based on a case study of a North American municipal police department, the article addresses how these technological devices are perceived and experienced by police officers on the beat.

The activities of combatants in paramilitary groups in Colombia can be seen as ‘dirty work’ that ... more The activities of combatants in paramilitary groups in Colombia can be seen as ‘dirty work’ that acts as a form of social control. We study the experiences and representations of former combatants concerning violence perpetrated by their groups against ‘outsiders’, arguing that the rhetoric of paramilitary groups not only plays a role in denying crimes. It makes possible for combatants to dignify the dirty work of paramilitary activities, but also offers an opportunity to study social control in Colombia in times of economic transnationalization and neo-conservatism.

Policing and Society, 2014

Based on a case study on the metamorphosis of a private security company responsible for the prot... more Based on a case study on the metamorphosis of a private security company responsible for the protection of oil wells during the Yugoslav Serbo–Croat conflict that became an armed band—the Scorpions—we show that this type of organization crystallizes mutually beneficial games that play out between a central power and those involved in local crime of low intensity. These organizations constitute the central players in a politicization of civilian crime and a privatization of political crime—genocide and crimes against humanity constituting the extreme forms. The involvement of private actors such as the Scorpions in armed conflict is considered in the fusion of instrumental and normative logic—a common element in all forms of mercenarism.

Criminologie, 2012

Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la mobilisation et la participation d'une bande armée -... more Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la mobilisation et la participation d'une bande armée -les Scorpions -dans les événements qui se sont produits en ex-Yougoslavie, durant les années 1990. Si l'étude de cette fi gure centrale des crimes de masse est nécessaire à la compréhension de ce phénomène et, ultimement, à sa prévention, elle se justifi e aussi d'un point de vue épistémologique : plutôt que d'ancrer une réfl exion sur l'individu et ses motivations, démarche courante pour une crimino logie dominante centrée sur les préoccupations sécuritaires des sociétés occidentales, nous postulons que c'est à partir du groupe et de la nature éminemment collective et politique de cette forme de criminalité extrême que la réfl exion sur les dynamiques d'élimination de populations entières doit s'amorcer. Cette démarche permet la genèse de connaissances plus spécifi ques et un regard nouveau sur la criminalité de masse. MOTS-CLÉS • Violence de masse, ex-Yougoslavie, Scorpions, bandes armées, radicalisation, sécurité privée. Criminologie, vol. 45, n o 1 (2012)

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2009

Déviance et Société, 2007

Saisir la violence de masse : le nettoyage ethnique en Bosnie et l'apport d'une perspective local... more Saisir la violence de masse : le nettoyage ethnique en Bosnie et l'apport d'une perspective locale et d'une approche de réseau par Samuel TANNER | Mé d ecin e e t Hygi è n e | Dé v i a nce e t Soci é t é 2007/3 -Volum e 31 ISSN 0378-7931 | pages 235 à 256 Pour citer cet article : -Tanner S., Saisir la violence de masse : le nettoyage ethnique en Bosnie et l'apport d'une perspective locale et d'une approche de réseau, Déviance e t Socié t é 2007/3, Volume 31, p. 235-256. Distribution électronique Cairn pour Médecine et Hygiène. © Médecine et Hygiène. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays. La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit. La compréhension de l'élimination d'une population est généralement envisagée comme résultant d'un plan intentionnel, « d'en haut », coordonné par une série d'institutions étatiques et constituant alors le crime et le paradigme de génocide. Cette perspective, héritage des études traitant l'Holocauste, est ici pondérée dans le contexte du nettoyage ethnique de Bosnie-Herzégovine entre 1992 et 1995 par une approche de réseau et une perspective de « terroir » qui tiennent à la fois compte d'un redéploiement du pouvoir de coercition sur une multitude de gens armés et des dynamiques locales animant les exécutants. Par isomorphisme, ces approches peuvent alimenter la réflexion sur le processus de justice de transition. 1

Global Crime, 2007

Participation in mass crime is often approached from a top-down perspective that centralizes the ... more Participation in mass crime is often approached from a top-down perspective that centralizes the actions of the masses under the order of elites and leaders. While there is some evidence to support this approach, a more complete assessment of participation in mass crime must also consider the grassroots contingencies that unite the collective motivation and capacity that induce such actions. Such a bottoms-up approach is developed in this article with a particular focus on the personal experiences of former Serbian militiamen who took part in scenes of mass violence in Croatia and Bosnia–Herzegovina. Interviews with former militiamen illustrate how political opportunities, diverging nationalistic attitudes, proximity to growing violence in increasingly localized killing fields, incentives to participate in parallel criminal activities, and an influence within community networks that were submerged in mass crimes united to legitimize and facilitate their personal commitment to the events that took place in this region during the 1990s.

Global Crime, 2011

In this article, I focus on the logic whereby a group of eight Hutu became involved in mass viole... more In this article, I focus on the logic whereby a group of eight Hutu became involved in mass violence during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. This process is considered as a sequence of meaningful events that progressively shaped the actors' frame of analysis. As such, each sequence brings a new qualitative reality which, in turn, constitutes the platform upon which the involvement in, and the perpetration of, mass violence become acceptable and legitimate in the eyes of the perpetrators. Based on both Howard S. Becker's notion of career and Roger Petersen's analysis of resistance and rebellion, I disaggregate the entire process of participation in mass violence into a sequence of six mechanisms, generating two main phases. The first one, mobilisation, refers to the movement from a neutral state to a mobilised state. The second phase, collective action, covers the drift from mobilisation to action, namely, killings.

International Review of The Red Cross, 2008

This article discusses sanctions for and the prevention of mass violence. But rather than take a ... more This article discusses sanctions for and the prevention of mass violence. But rather than take a classic approach centred on statutory players such as soldiers, officers or political leaders, all of them acting within a legal chain of command, I focus on nonstate perpetrators. My reflections are based on case studies of four former Serbian militiamen who took part in mass violence in the former Yugoslavia. I argue that it is of the utmost importance to consider the typical grass-roots relationship between these local players and their own community, so as to maximize the effect of sanctions and perhaps prevent further offences by potential future perpetrators.

Études internationales, May 23, 2019

Cette note de recherche propose un état des connaissances sur les rapports entre multinationales,... more Cette note de recherche propose un état des connaissances sur les rapports entre multinationales, compagnies privées de sécurité et autorités publiques dans le secteur de l'extraction minière ou pétrolière. Les sites que gèrent les entreprises extractives sont souvent situés dans des zones de conflits, des territoires contestés ou sujets à l'instabilité politique, c'est-à-dire dans des États faibles. L'objectif de cette note est de mobiliser une littérature florissante et une expertise embryonnaire en mettant l'accent sur les relations entre acteurs publics et privés en matière de sécurité. Elle montre d'abord comment le principe de responsabilité sociale des entreprises, influent dans le secteur extractif, est à l'origine de pratiques discursives et opérationnelles liées à la sécurité de plus en plus répandues. Puis elle présente des points de vue contrastés sur la nature et la portée de la coopération entre États faibles et industries. Enfin, elle décrit les assemblages qui émergent entre multinationales, compagnies privées de sécurité et autorités publiques dans les États faibles, mettant en lumière de nouvelles pratiques hybrides de sécurité.

Presses de l’Université de Montréal eBooks, May 22, 2018

Presses de l’Université de Montréal eBooks, Jan 24, 2018

Les opérations internationales de paix ont connu de profonds changements dans leur nature et leur... more Les opérations internationales de paix ont connu de profonds changements dans leur nature et leurs missions au cours des dernières décennies. D’une stricte surveillance d’accords de cessez-le-feu, elles incluent désormais une vaste palette de responsabilités, s’étendant jusqu’à la stabilisation et la consolidation d’un pays en sortie de guerre. En particulier, ces missions comprennent la prise en charge de la sécurité publique, tâche pour laquelle la composante militaire – jusqu’ici privilégi..

Open Book Publishers, Oct 1, 2020

Champ pénal, Jan 15, 2007

Routledge eBooks, May 21, 2020

Much has been written about the governance of crime-indeed this is the thread that has unified cr... more Much has been written about the governance of crime-indeed this is the thread that has unified criminology. Yet, mere property crimes and attacks against individuals-traditionally at the core of the discipline-are plummeting in many societies. Meanwhile, harms and harms management emerge outside the narrowness of criminal justice definitions. Despite this, very little criminological attention has been paid to the fact that the security of flows increasingly embodies concerns that are at the heart of contemporary policing practices. This introduction to this special issue takes stock of these changes, and argues that to stay current and relevant, criminology must pay closer attention to these changing landscapes of harms and policing.

Social Science Research Network, 2008

... The corresponding author can be contacted at benoit.dupont@umontreal.ca. ... operations (also... more ... The corresponding author can be contacted at benoit.dupont@umontreal.ca. ... operations (also known as CIVPOL), this paper does not focus on the impact these missions have on the post-conflict societies where they are conducted (Gregory 1996, Sysmanidis 1997, Oakley et ...

Criminologie (Montreal), Sep 30, 2014

Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y ... more Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne.

British Journal of Criminology, Oct 17, 2012

ABSTRACT

Policing & Society, Jun 1, 2009

Unlike most contributions on civilian police peace operations (also known as CIVPOL), this paper ... more Unlike most contributions on civilian police peace operations (also known as CIVPOL), this paper does not focus on the impact these missions have on the post-conflict societies where they are conducted (Gregory 1996, Sysmanidis 1997, Oakley et al. 1998, Murray 2003)-or their lack thereof. Nor will it conclude on a list of suggestions for improvements that could make police contingents more effective at peace building (Call & Barnett 2000, Bayley 2001, Latham 2001, Perito 2004). We will also leave the psychological impact on police peacekeepers of participating to missions whose outcomes are ambiguous to others (Drodge & Roy-Cyr 2003). Instead, we have chosen to explore another facet of the CIVPOL story: the selection and preparation process of police officers that temporarily leave their job in stable societies to undertake often challenging tasks in post-conflict environments (Chappell & Evans 1998), and the subsequent overall failure of contributing organizations to fully take advantage of the skills and experience their returning officers have acquired in the process. In this perspective, we conceptualize civilian police peacekeeping missions through a much broader temporal and organizational window than the one defined by its purely operational component, which usually falls under the responsibility of the UN. Instead, we envisage CIVPOL operations as a continuum made up of three phases.

Presses de l’Université de Montréal eBooks, Jan 24, 2018

À l’échelle de l’histoire de la police, l’intérêt des chercheurs pour ses formes transnationales ... more À l’échelle de l’histoire de la police, l’intérêt des chercheurs pour ses formes transnationales est récent. Ce n’est qu’à partir des années 1980, avec des travaux portant principalement sur l’avènement de réseaux internationaux de coopération policière en matière d’enquête criminelle et d’échange de renseignements, via Interpol, que progressivement, les connaissances émergent sur la dimension « hors les frontières » du travail policier (Malcolm, 1989). Pourtant, la déterritorialisation de la..

Canadian journal of criminology and criminal justice, Jun 1, 2018

The use of the media by protesters during demonstrations affects the police force and its respons... more The use of the media by protesters during demonstrations affects the police force and its response. The new media force the police to update its crowd control strategy. The police's scope of concern reaches an unprecedented level of exchange, because of the digital dimension adding to the physical one; it now has to take both into account in its crowd management practices. What is the attitude adopted by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) with regard to the social media? What use does it make of the Twitter microblogging platform during demonstrations? In order to understand how the law enforcement agency uses the potential of this media and how it impacts its communications and practices, a database of 3,909 Twitter messages, dated between September 2012 and June 2015, was created. An analysis of the database shows that the SPVM seeks to establish a direct and egalitarian dialogue with the public, tries to open a specific communication channel with protesters and uses this new medium as a strategic tool.

Global Crime, Apr 26, 2019

Vigilantism is defined as collective coercive practices carried out by non-state actors and inten... more Vigilantism is defined as collective coercive practices carried out by non-state actors and intended to enforce norms (social or judicial) or to act directly to enforce such actors' views of the law. Vigilantes are involved in both societal control and the fight against crime. In this article, we analyse how societal vigilantes use digital media (Facebook) to act on immigration, national identity, ethnic boundaries, and cultural values in the province of Quebec, Canada. We show how social media practices entail performative effects that should not be considered exclusively in terms of physical expression, such as gatherings of dispersed constituencies, as in, for example, the Arab Spring, but also in relation to the construction of boundaries and increased polarisation between social groups. These latter effects have real consequences, such as separating one element of the population (Muslims) from the moral obligation social groups have towards each other in society.

Presses de l’Université de Montréal eBooks, 2012

Dans un monde ou les operations policieres de paix se substituent graduellement aux operations ex... more Dans un monde ou les operations policieres de paix se substituent graduellement aux operations exclusivement militaires, a quels defis organisationnels les services de police contributeurs et les societes hotes sont-ils confrontes ? Quelles sont les motivations institutionnelles et individuelles a participer a de telles operations ? Quels liens unissent les contingents internationaux aux polices locales et aux autres acteurs du maintien de la paix ? A partir d'etudes de terrain realisees dans des contextes varies (Balkans, Afghanistan, Haiti, Timor-Leste...), des chercheurs provenant de disciplines aussi diverses que la science politique, la sociologie, la criminologie ou le droit esquissent les grandes lignes d'un champ de recherche dedie aux operations de maintien de la paix et aux processus complexes qui permettent a des societes divisees de se reconcilier et de retablir des institutions policieres legitimes. Avec les textes de : Herve Dages, Nathalie Duclos, Benoit Dupont, Nadia Gerspacher, Andrew Goldsmith, Vandra Harris, Marcel-Eugene LeBeuf, Antoine Megie, Francis Pakyaf, Juan Carlos Ruiz Vasquez, Xavier Saint-Pierre et Samuel Tanner.

British Journal of Criminology, May 14, 2015

ABSTRACT

New Media & Society, Dec 19, 2018

The Internet poses a number of challenges for academics. Internet specificities such as anonymity... more The Internet poses a number of challenges for academics. Internet specificities such as anonymity, the decontextualisation of discourse, the misuse or non-use of references raise methodological questions about the quality and the authenticity of the data available online. This is particularly true when dealing with extremist groups and grassroot militants that cultivate secrecy. Based on a study of the far-right on Twitter, this article explores these methodological issues. It discusses the qualitative indicators we have developed to determine whether a given Twitter account should be included in the sample or not. By using digital traces drawn from profiles, interactions, content and through other visual information, we recontextualize user's profile and analyze how digital traces participate in providing far right ideas with a wider representation.

Criminologie (Montreal), 2022