I am a Fellow in Qualitative Methodology in the Department of Methodology at the LSE. My research interests are at the intersection of comparative politics and development studies. I specialize in the study of authoritarian regimes, conducting research on their dynamics of resilience and change with an interdisciplinary and qualitative approach. I have conducted field research in Sudan and hold a Ph.D. from the Université de Montréal and an M.A from Sciences Po Bordeaux.
Le Soudan du Sud a accédé officiellement à l’indépendance le 9 juillet 2011, à l’issue d’un proce... more Le Soudan du Sud a accédé officiellement à l’indépendance le 9 juillet 2011, à l’issue d’un processus de paix acté en janvier 2005 et conformément au résultat du référendum national de janvier 2011. Cet événement historique qui devait clore une page de l’histoire conflictuelle entre les régions et communautés soudanaises du Nord et du Sud a constitué un réel défi en termes d’adaptation, de résilience et d’innovation pour l’ensemble de la société. Dans ce contexte inédit de naissance d’un nouveau territoire national, et de remodelage des configurations spatiales et politiques existantes, le Soudan du Sud a été très logiquement au centre des attentions – qu’il s’agisse des acteurs politiques, des chercheurs ou des bailleurs humanitaires. Pourtant, le Nord a été aussi profondément affecté par cette rupture. Le propos de ce numéro est d’éclairer certaines de ses transformations. South Sudan officially gained independence on the 9th July 2011. This was the outcome of the peace agreement ...
This article examines writing as the last link in the epistemology-theory-methodology alignment. ... more This article examines writing as the last link in the epistemology-theory-methodology alignment. Although political scientists dedicate a great deal of their time to writing, conversations on this topic remain scarce within international relations and political science overall. Notably absent are analyses of the actual writing choices scholars make and what these mean for the knowledge they produce. This article uses the tools of literary analysis to take a closer look at the mechanics of three published academic articles in the fields of international relations and comparative politics. It focuses on how qualitative interviews are written, demonstrates how authors can conceal or reveal the dialogical dimension, and examines how they deal with the conundrum of the representation of research participants. This kind of reflexive analysis reveals the epistemological foundations of a given research article and can be used to identify instances of misrepresentation and misalignment. As s...
The concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studie... more The concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studies on participatory development rarely examine the political regimes those policies are embedded in. Yet, in authoritarian contexts, participation is ambiguous, potentially threatening—as it can be connected to democratic ideals—and it also can be used as a resource, a tool for domination. Through an analysis of participatory development projects implemented in Sudan, I explore how power relations are renegotiated at the local level. Relying on data collected during fieldwork in Khartoum and the state of North Kordofan, where the projects are located, I highlight the disconnect between the discourse surrounding the participatory devices, which establishes an horizontal relationship between citizens and the local government, and the actual practices that strengthen the latter's power. In doing so, the article challenges a linear, top-down conception of authoritarian power and reveals t...
Research Methods in the Social Sciences: An A-Z of key concepts
This chapter describes operationalization, which refers to the intellectual operations the resear... more This chapter describes operationalization, which refers to the intellectual operations the researcher undertakes to decide how to observe a concept in reality. This is a crucial step of the research process, as many concepts in the social sciences are too abstract to be immediately observed. The most important criteria of a successful operationalization are consequently the consistency between each step of the research design, from theory formation to data collection, and the degree to which the indicators effectively allow the researcher to gather observations that work well in the context under study. One way to synthesize these points is that operationalization should enable the researcher to respect the principle of double adequacy. First, the researcher’s conceptual argument and the operationalized data should correspond. Second, there is a need for adequacy between those data and the ‘reference reality’.
This articles examines writing as the last link in the epistemology-theory-methodology alignment.... more This articles examines writing as the last link in the epistemology-theory-methodology alignment. While political scientists dedicate a lot of their time to writing, conversations on this topic remain scarce within international relations and political science overall. Especially missing are analysis of the actual writing choices scholars make and what they mean for the knowledge they produce. Moving beyond the focus on readability and editing that concerns most writings on writing, the article uses the tools of literary analysis to go in-depth into the mechanics of three published academic articles in the fields of international relations and comparative politics. It focuses on how qualitative interviews are written and demonstrates how authors can conceal or reveal its dialogical dimension and how they deal with the conundrum of the representation of research participants. This kind of reflexive analysis reveals the epistemological foundations of a research and is useful to identify instances of misrepresentation and misalignment. As such, it is an important tool for the improvement of academic writing.
Authoritarian regimes are often considered to be prone to civil wars because they are fundamental... more Authoritarian regimes are often considered to be prone to civil wars because they are fundamentally based on principles of marginalization and coercion. Recent literature on authoritarian resiliency tends nonetheless to consider that regimes that are plagued with violence cannot endure over the long term. Building on an analysis of Omar al-Bashir’s regime in Sudan, this paper explores the relationship between civil wars and the winning coalition, the group of people whose loyalty is necessary for the survival of the regime. It studies the way in which the war in Darfur has been fought, and demonstrates how this has led to changes within the coalition that may contribute to the entrenchment of authoritarianism in Sudan.
The concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studie... more The concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studies on participatory development rarely examine the political regimes those policies are embedded in. Yet, in authoritarian contexts, participation is ambiguous: potentially threatening-as it can be connected to democratic ideals-but also a resource-a tool for domination. Through an analysis of participatory development projects implemented in Sudan, I explore how power relations are renegotiated at the local level. Relying on data collected during fieldwork in Khartoum and the state of North Kordofan, where the projects are located, I highlight the disconnect between the discourse surrounding the participatory devices, which establishes an horizontal relationship between the citizens and the local government, and the actual practices that strengthen the latter's power. In doing so, the article challenges a linear, top-down conception of authoritarian power, and reveals the tensions that exist between institutional levels.
Le Soudan du Sud a accédé officiellement à l’indépendance le 9 juillet 2011, à l’issue d’un proce... more Le Soudan du Sud a accédé officiellement à l’indépendance le 9 juillet 2011, à l’issue d’un processus de paix acté en janvier 2005 et conformément au résultat du référendum national de janvier 2011. Cet événement historique qui devait clore une page de l’histoire conflictuelle entre les régions et communautés soudanaises du Nord et du Sud a constitué un réel défi en termes d’adaptation, de résilience et d’innovation pour l’ensemble de la société. Dans ce contexte inédit de naissance d’un nouveau territoire national, et de remodelage des configurations spatiales et politiques existantes, le Soudan du Sud a été très logiquement au centre des attentions – qu’il s’agisse des acteurs politiques, des chercheurs ou des bailleurs humanitaires. Pourtant, le Nord a été aussi profondément affecté par cette rupture. Le propos de ce numéro est d’éclairer certaines de ses transformations. South Sudan officially gained independence on the 9th July 2011. This was the outcome of the peace agreement ...
This article examines writing as the last link in the epistemology-theory-methodology alignment. ... more This article examines writing as the last link in the epistemology-theory-methodology alignment. Although political scientists dedicate a great deal of their time to writing, conversations on this topic remain scarce within international relations and political science overall. Notably absent are analyses of the actual writing choices scholars make and what these mean for the knowledge they produce. This article uses the tools of literary analysis to take a closer look at the mechanics of three published academic articles in the fields of international relations and comparative politics. It focuses on how qualitative interviews are written, demonstrates how authors can conceal or reveal the dialogical dimension, and examines how they deal with the conundrum of the representation of research participants. This kind of reflexive analysis reveals the epistemological foundations of a given research article and can be used to identify instances of misrepresentation and misalignment. As s...
The concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studie... more The concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studies on participatory development rarely examine the political regimes those policies are embedded in. Yet, in authoritarian contexts, participation is ambiguous, potentially threatening—as it can be connected to democratic ideals—and it also can be used as a resource, a tool for domination. Through an analysis of participatory development projects implemented in Sudan, I explore how power relations are renegotiated at the local level. Relying on data collected during fieldwork in Khartoum and the state of North Kordofan, where the projects are located, I highlight the disconnect between the discourse surrounding the participatory devices, which establishes an horizontal relationship between citizens and the local government, and the actual practices that strengthen the latter's power. In doing so, the article challenges a linear, top-down conception of authoritarian power and reveals t...
Research Methods in the Social Sciences: An A-Z of key concepts
This chapter describes operationalization, which refers to the intellectual operations the resear... more This chapter describes operationalization, which refers to the intellectual operations the researcher undertakes to decide how to observe a concept in reality. This is a crucial step of the research process, as many concepts in the social sciences are too abstract to be immediately observed. The most important criteria of a successful operationalization are consequently the consistency between each step of the research design, from theory formation to data collection, and the degree to which the indicators effectively allow the researcher to gather observations that work well in the context under study. One way to synthesize these points is that operationalization should enable the researcher to respect the principle of double adequacy. First, the researcher’s conceptual argument and the operationalized data should correspond. Second, there is a need for adequacy between those data and the ‘reference reality’.
This articles examines writing as the last link in the epistemology-theory-methodology alignment.... more This articles examines writing as the last link in the epistemology-theory-methodology alignment. While political scientists dedicate a lot of their time to writing, conversations on this topic remain scarce within international relations and political science overall. Especially missing are analysis of the actual writing choices scholars make and what they mean for the knowledge they produce. Moving beyond the focus on readability and editing that concerns most writings on writing, the article uses the tools of literary analysis to go in-depth into the mechanics of three published academic articles in the fields of international relations and comparative politics. It focuses on how qualitative interviews are written and demonstrates how authors can conceal or reveal its dialogical dimension and how they deal with the conundrum of the representation of research participants. This kind of reflexive analysis reveals the epistemological foundations of a research and is useful to identify instances of misrepresentation and misalignment. As such, it is an important tool for the improvement of academic writing.
Authoritarian regimes are often considered to be prone to civil wars because they are fundamental... more Authoritarian regimes are often considered to be prone to civil wars because they are fundamentally based on principles of marginalization and coercion. Recent literature on authoritarian resiliency tends nonetheless to consider that regimes that are plagued with violence cannot endure over the long term. Building on an analysis of Omar al-Bashir’s regime in Sudan, this paper explores the relationship between civil wars and the winning coalition, the group of people whose loyalty is necessary for the survival of the regime. It studies the way in which the war in Darfur has been fought, and demonstrates how this has led to changes within the coalition that may contribute to the entrenchment of authoritarianism in Sudan.
The concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studie... more The concept of participation is a cornerstone of development and democracy discourses, but studies on participatory development rarely examine the political regimes those policies are embedded in. Yet, in authoritarian contexts, participation is ambiguous: potentially threatening-as it can be connected to democratic ideals-but also a resource-a tool for domination. Through an analysis of participatory development projects implemented in Sudan, I explore how power relations are renegotiated at the local level. Relying on data collected during fieldwork in Khartoum and the state of North Kordofan, where the projects are located, I highlight the disconnect between the discourse surrounding the participatory devices, which establishes an horizontal relationship between the citizens and the local government, and the actual practices that strengthen the latter's power. In doing so, the article challenges a linear, top-down conception of authoritarian power, and reveals the tensions that exist between institutional levels.
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