Aurélie Campana
Université Laval, Science politique, Faculty Member
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... 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.
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This article analyses the precarious alliances concluded between insurgent groups in the context of the conflict in Northern Mali that began in 2012. Building on the literature on civil wars and social movements, it develops a... more
This article analyses the precarious alliances concluded between insurgent groups in the context of the conflict in Northern Mali that began in 2012. Building on the literature on civil wars and social movements, it develops a mechanism-based approach that intends to shed light on the processes of alliance formation and disintegration that are taking place at the meso- and micro-levels of analysis. It shows that the solidity and durability of alliances in a civil war context strongly depend on the interplay of three intra-organizational and inter-organizational mechanisms (brokerage, competition and shifting alliance), which contribute to the shaping of complex local power games. While ideological compatibility facilitates alignment and organizational collaboration, alliances are first and foremost cemented or fissured through the changing short- and mid-term personal interests of a variety of actors, who try to adapt to a volatile context.
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Cet article porte sur les dynamiques propres aux politiques russes antiterroristes au Caucase du Nord et analyse leurs impacts sur le conflit. Pour ce faire, il s’appuie sur le concept de configuration tel que développé par N. Elias. Il... more
Cet article porte sur les dynamiques propres aux politiques russes antiterroristes au Caucase du Nord et analyse leurs impacts sur le conflit. Pour ce faire, il s’appuie sur le concept de configuration tel que développé par N. Elias. Il se propose de déconstruire les interdépendances qui lient les acteurs de l’antiterrorisme et d’en examiner la nature et les logiques. Il montre qu’il existe non seulement un décalage entre les discours et les pratiques, mais également une divergence d’intérêts et de croyances, que la prédominance du clanisme, du localisme et du clientélisme, comme modes d’interactions et principes organisationnels, ne fait qu’enraciner. Il explique les
échecs des politiques antiterroristes par les jeux de pouvoir, qui à Moscou et au Nord-Caucase, entravent leur bonne mise en oeuvre, par l’absence de coordination et la compétition inter-agences et par le détournement de la violence à des fins privées. Il montre ainsi que loin de contenir le conflit, ces pratiques imputables aux différents acteurs impliqués dans la lutte anti-terroriste participent à la montée des violences et
entretiennent un conflit aux logiques multiples.
échecs des politiques antiterroristes par les jeux de pouvoir, qui à Moscou et au Nord-Caucase, entravent leur bonne mise en oeuvre, par l’absence de coordination et la compétition inter-agences et par le détournement de la violence à des fins privées. Il montre ainsi que loin de contenir le conflit, ces pratiques imputables aux différents acteurs impliqués dans la lutte anti-terroriste participent à la montée des violences et
entretiennent un conflit aux logiques multiples.
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This article seeks to foster a better understanding of the diffusion of conflict in the North Caucasus.We argue that diffusion of conflict is a dynamic and adaptive process in which outcomes are shaped by the intersection of three social... more
This article seeks to foster a better understanding of the diffusion of conflict in the North Caucasus.We argue that diffusion of conflict is a dynamic and adaptive process in which
outcomes are shaped by the intersection of three social mechanisms—attribution of similarity, brokerage, and outbidding—and the political, social, and religious contexts. We
suggest that a distinction should be made between horizontal and vertical processes of diffusion. We also approach the empirical diffusion of conflict from a different perspective,
showing that non-Chechen actors have played a key role in both the diffusion process and its outcomes.
outcomes are shaped by the intersection of three social mechanisms—attribution of similarity, brokerage, and outbidding—and the political, social, and religious contexts. We
suggest that a distinction should be made between horizontal and vertical processes of diffusion. We also approach the empirical diffusion of conflict from a different perspective,
showing that non-Chechen actors have played a key role in both the diffusion process and its outcomes.
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This article analyses the tentative de-securitising move of the Russian counterterrorism frame under Medvedev’s presidency. It suggests that de-securitisation involves a normalisation process that articulates three main points: terrorism... more
This article analyses the tentative de-securitising move of the Russian counterterrorism frame under Medvedev’s presidency. It suggests that de-securitisation involves a normalisation process that articulates three main points: terrorism as a result of internal troubles, counterterrorism seen as a “positive process” and Islam not being stigmatised. It nevertheless shows that this process remains far from complete, given the embedding of framing into cultural and normative contexts that make security, integrity and sovereignty leading norms. On the contrary, the ambiguities that shape framing entail a (re-)securitisation of social and societal issues that were not previously directly related to the root causes of terrorism.
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This article proposes a systematic scoping review of the structural “root” causes of non-suicide terrorism. It aims to synthesize the knowledge produced on this very specific issue from 2000 and 2009 and to raise questions about... more
This article proposes a systematic scoping review of the structural “root” causes of non-suicide terrorism. It aims to synthesize the knowledge produced on this very specific issue from 2000 and 2009 and to raise questions about unanswered issues and those that deserve more in-depth investigation. After presenting our methodology, we offer an overview of this subfield of research. We then discuss our main results and explain why no substantive argument on the structural “root” causes of terrorism emerges. We argue that the main gaps lie in the high fragmentation of this subfield, definitional problems, a somehow flexible operationalization of concepts, and a high dependence on sources of questionable reliability.
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This article analyzes how Russian Federal policies evolved between 1999 and 2005 to justify the policy of “Chechenization” and the legitimization of an autocratic-style regime in Chechnya. It argues that this strategy was progressively... more
This article analyzes how Russian Federal policies evolved between 1999 and 2005 to justify the policy of “Chechenization” and the legitimization of an autocratic-style regime in Chechnya. It argues that this strategy was progressively elaborated during the conflict as a result of institutional competition between three main Federal agencies (the Presidential Administration, the secret services (FSB)), and the military over the framing of the conflict. This process paved the way for the formation of the “totalizing frame” under the leadership of the Kremlin, which incorporated various discursive constructions into one coherent and exclusive interpretation of the conflict.
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L’Union européenne (UE) a joué un rôle premier comme médiateur dans la guerre qui a opposé en août 2008 la Géorgie et la Russie. Pourtant, l’UE reste un acteur secondaire dans la région, peinant à s’immiscer dans les processus de... more
L’Union européenne (UE) a joué un rôle premier comme médiateur dans la guerre qui a opposé en août 2008 la Géorgie et la Russie. Pourtant, l’UE reste un acteur secondaire dans la région, peinant à s’immiscer dans les processus de résolution de conflit mis en place depuis la fi n des différents conflits en Abkhazie, en Ossétie du Sud et au Nagorno-Karabakh. Cet article interroge l’échec relatif de l’UE à peser sur les processus de résolution des confl its gelés au Caucase du Sud. Il examine les logiques propres à l’UE qui expliquent les impasses auxquelles elle doit faire face dans la région : les incertitudes et les ambiguïtés qui entourent la Politique européenne de voisinage (PEV) et les autres instruments mobilisés au Caucase du Sud, les divisions et les concurrences intra-européennes.
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Introduction to the special issue "« Les conflits gelés dans l’espace postsoviétique »
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... Istoriia i sovremennost0 (The Chechens: History and Modern Times), Moscow, 1996, p. 185;Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, Families and ... CK KPSS Nikite Sergeevichu Khrushchevu, ot voenkoma Grajdanskoi boiny na Severnom Kavkaze,... more
... Istoriia i sovremennost0 (The Chechens: History and Modern Times), Moscow, 1996, p. 185;Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, Families and ... CK KPSS Nikite Sergeevichu Khrushchevu, ot voenkoma Grajdanskoi boiny na Severnom Kavkaze, picatel'ia Kosterina Alekseia Evgrafovicha ...
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... [ 18] Ludmila Alekseyeva, Soviet ... premier Secrétaire du Comité Central du PCUS, Nikita Sergueïvitch Krouchtchev, de la part du chef du bureau de recrutement de la guerre civile dans le Nord Caucase, l'écrivain... more
... [ 18] Ludmila Alekseyeva, Soviet ... premier Secrétaire du Comité Central du PCUS, Nikita Sergueïvitch Krouchtchev, de la part du chef du bureau de recrutement de la guerre civile dans le Nord Caucase, l'écrivain Aleksej E. Kosterin »], 1957, reproduit in Svetlana Alieva, Tak eto ...
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Since the end of the first war in 1996, the definition of the Chechen national identity has been at stake in a top-level competition. I argue that four main trends – the separatists, the radical Islamists, the traditionalists and the... more
Since the end of the first war in 1996, the definition of the Chechen national identity has been at stake in a top-level competition. I argue that four main trends – the separatists, the radical Islamists, the traditionalists and the pro-Russians – are in competition. Each of them produces its own narrative, based on a specific rendering of history. Using a constructivist approach, I address the influence of an all-out war context on social interactions, self-perception and categorisation by the others. I then examine the narratives in competition. I finally show how history and traditions have become political weapons in the struggle for power and legitimacy by opposing self-proclaimed elites promoted by wars.
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Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the term “Europe” has reached a new dimension. The fall of the Berlin Wall opened the East to the West and, in 1989, the European space moved up from two entities symbolically separated by a wall to... more
Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the term “Europe” has reached a new dimension. The fall of the Berlin Wall opened the East to the West and, in 1989, the European space moved up from two entities symbolically separated by a wall to one territorial unity. But we cannot say that this unity is a political one. This dichotomy is not based on two different political orientations, but on the adhesion or the non-adhesion to economic, political and especially moral principles. Thus two conceptions of the European space are competing. The term “Europe” has two major significations: firstly it refers to the European Union, and secondly to a Great Europe, including the states which have belonged to the former Soviet bloc. How can we define how this Great Europe perceived itself and what are its limits? The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the two visions of the European space are under competition through two institutions. They convey two representations of this European space and imagine it in two perspectives. Therefore, the collapse of the Soviet bloc has altered in depth the perception of the European space and created a new dichotomy.
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Le Caucase et la Crimée ont été le théâtre de déportations massives organisées au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Environ 900 000 personnes, appartenant à une dizaine de nationalités soviétiques en majorité de confession musulmane,... more
Le Caucase et la Crimée ont été le théâtre de déportations massives organisées au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Environ 900 000 personnes, appartenant à une dizaine de nationalités soviétiques en majorité de confession musulmane, ont été déplacées de force, alors que les combats contre l'armée allemande faisaient toujours rage. Ces régions ont pour singularité de connaître depuis l'effondrement de l'Union soviétique une actualité particulièrement mouvementée. Mosaïques ethniques situées au carrefour des civilisations et des religions, elles sont aujourd'hui considérées comme de véritables poudrières. Cet ouvrage collectif se veut une contribution à l'écriture d'une histoire qui ignore trop souvent l'actualité des peuples déportés. Il ouvre un angle jusque-là peu abordé, celui de la comparaison des déportations et de leurs impacts sur les situations politiques et sociales actuelles des peuples déportés. Une première partie présente les modalités des déportations, la vie en exil et les étapes du processus partiel de réhabilitation à partir de 1956. Suivent des études de cas abordant les décennies qui ont suivi la réhabilitation ou la non réhabilitation de six différents peuples déportés dans une perspective comparatiste. Enfin, une dernière partie examine le traitement de l'héritage stalinien dans le présent et la manière dont cet héritage, souvent encombrant, est géré par les États successeurs russe, ukrainien et géorgien. Privilégiant une approche pluridisciplinaire et rassemblant des spécialistes des questions étudiées, cet ouvrage propose de mesurer sur la longue durée les conséquences d'évènements que d'aucuns considèrent trop rapidement comme appartenant à l'ordre des mémoires. Il ouvre donc un champ d'étude encore peu abordé en France : l'actualité, le traitement, l'héritage et la mémoire des déportations dans le contexte postsoviétique
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Various multiple-disciplinary terms and concepts (although most commonly “interdisciplinarity,” which is used herein) are used to frame education, scholarship, research, and interactions within and outside academia. In principle, the... more
Various multiple-disciplinary terms and concepts (although most commonly “interdisciplinarity,” which is used herein) are used to frame education, scholarship, research, and interactions within and outside academia. In principle, the premise of interdisciplinarity may appear to have many strengths; yet, the extent to which interdisciplinarity is embraced by the current generation of academics, the benefits and risks for doing so, and the barriers and facilitators to achieving interdisciplinarity, represent inherent challenges. Much has been written on the topic of interdisciplinarity, but to our knowledge there have been few attempts to consider and present diverse perspectives from scholars, artists, and scientists in a cohesive manner. As a team of 57 members from the Canadian College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada (the College) who self-identify as being engaged or interested in interdisciplinarity, we provide diverse intellectual, cultura...
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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... 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.
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The complex architecture of fragmented authority in the international system remains under-theorized. Understanding the world of separatist regions that turn into de facto states is high on the research agenda. While patron states are... more
The complex architecture of fragmented authority in the international system remains under-theorized. Understanding the world of separatist regions that turn into de facto states is high on the research agenda. While patron states are said to be a necessary condition, we argue that it might not be a sufficient one to explain the varying degrees of survival/ endurance of de facto states. This analytical essay is an effort to establish directions for research that would better account for the variation among cases by integrating their internal dynamics with what we already know about the role of external factors. Adopting a political sociology perspective, this article focuses on understudied aspects of internal processes and points to the role of local elites in state and nation-building during civil wars and after violence declines. We contend that such a perspective helps to account in a more comprehensive way for the processes underlying the status quo while, at the same time, analyzing the interplay between external and internal dynamics of frozen conflicts. We show that students of de facto states would gain from employing literatures on state-building and nation-building to articulate an analytical framework that would reassess the role of local elites in building a state and a nation, and analyze the societal (un)responsiveness as well as the strategies of passive or active accommodation, resistance or opposition within de facto states' populations.
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Cet article porte sur les dynamiques propres aux politiques russes antiterroristes au Caucase du Nord et analyse leurs impacts sur le conflit. Pour ce faire, il s’appuie sur le concept de configuration tel que développé par N. Elias. Il... more
Cet article porte sur les dynamiques propres aux politiques russes antiterroristes au Caucase du Nord et analyse leurs impacts sur le conflit. Pour ce faire, il s’appuie sur le concept de configuration tel que développé par N. Elias. Il se propose de déconstruire les interdépendances qui lient les acteurs de l’antiterrorisme et d’en examiner la nature et les logiques. Il montre qu’il existe non seulement un décalage entre les discours et les pratiques, mais également une divergence d’intérêts et de croyances, que la prédominance du clanisme, du localisme et du clientélisme, comme modes d’interactions et principes organisationnels, ne fait qu’enraciner. Il explique les échecs des politiques antiterroristes par les jeux de pouvoir, qui à Moscou et au Nord-Caucase, entravent leur bonne mise en oeuvre, par l’absence de coordination et la compétition inter-agences et par le détournement de la violence à des fins privées. Il montre ainsi que loin de contenir le conflit, ces pratiques impu...
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Bien que les violences politiques soient, depuis le début du siècle, principalement abordées sous l’angle de l’extrémisme islamiste, les crimes motivés par la haine existaient au Canada bien avant les attentats du 11 septembre 2001.... more
Bien que les violences politiques soient, depuis le début du siècle, principalement abordées sous l’angle de l’extrémisme islamiste, les crimes motivés par la haine existaient au Canada bien avant les attentats du 11 septembre 2001. Notamment, plusieurs groupes d’extrême droite y ont toujours défendu leurs idéologies racistes et fascistes en utilisant différentes formes de violence pour se faire entendre. Cette étude se propose d’explorer ce phénomène par une analyse des principaux modes d’action utilisés et thèses véhiculées par la commission d’actes de violence haineuse en sol canadien entre 1977 et 2010. L’approche méthodologique mixte s’appuie sur un total de 214 crimes haineux répertoriés pendant la période étudiée. Les résultats démontrent, d’une part, une forme de traditionalisme dans les modes d’action choisis et, d’autre part, une relation inversement liée entre la fréquence des idéologies mises en cause et la gravité des modes d’action utilisés.
Research Interests: Criminology, Law, Humanities, Art, Political Violence and Terrorism, and 15 moreHate Crimes, Political Violence, Canada, Extremism, Hate crime, Violencia Política, Canadá, Criminologie, Extrema Derecha, Violence Politique, Right Wing Extremism, Right Wing, Crímenes De Odio, Extrême-Droite, and Extremismo
L’Union européenne (ue) a joué un rôle premier comme médiateur dans la guerre qui a opposé en août 2008 la Géorgie et la Russie. Pourtant, l’ ue reste un acteur secondaire dans la région, peinant à s’immiscer dans les processus de... more
L’Union européenne (ue) a joué un rôle premier comme médiateur dans la guerre qui a opposé en août 2008 la Géorgie et la Russie. Pourtant, l’ ue reste un acteur secondaire dans la région, peinant à s’immiscer dans les processus de résolution de conflit mis en place depuis la fin des différents conflits en Abkhazie, en Ossétie du Sud et au Nagorno-Karabakh. Cet article interroge l’échec relatif de l’ ue> à peser sur les processus de résolution des conflits gelés au Caucase du Sud. Il examine les logiques propres à l’ ue qui expliquent les impasses auxquelles elle doit faire face dans la région : les incertitudes et les ambiguïtés qui entourent la Politique européenne de voisinage (pev) et les autres instruments mobilisés au Caucase du Sud, les divisions et les concurrences intra-européennes.
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This article looks at Internet use by insurgent groups in the North Caucasus in the context of a regional diffusion of violence. Using a mixed methods research design that combines hyperlink network analysis and micro-discourse analysis,... more
This article looks at Internet use by insurgent groups in the North Caucasus in the context of a regional diffusion of violence. Using a mixed methods research design that combines hyperlink network analysis and micro-discourse analysis, it examines the online characteristics of the Caucasus Emirate and the main frames conveyed by the websites affiliated with the Emirate. It demonstrates the existence of a network of cross-referencing websites that, collectively, articulate the Emirate's political agenda online and allow for the dissemination of frames across the Web. It also shows that while jihadism provides a cultural resource that fosters a global sense of community, the jihadization of discourse does not eradicate local references as the local dynamics of the conflict have a strong impact on online communicative strategies. Finally, although based on a specific case study, this article highlights the potential of a mixed methods research design as applied to an analysis of virtual insurgent networks.
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... UNPROFOR en anglais. FRR Force de réaction rapide HDZ Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica, Communauté démocratique croate. Parti ... 2000. HDZ-BH Désigne le HDZ de Bosnie-Herzégovine, la « succursale » du HDZ de Croatie. ...
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Research Interests: Human Geography and Art
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The complex architecture of fragmented authority in the international system remains under-theorized. Understanding the world of separatist regions that turn into de facto states is high on the research agenda. While patron states are... more
The complex architecture of fragmented authority in the international system remains under-theorized. Understanding the world of separatist regions that turn into de facto states is high on the research agenda. While patron states are said to be a necessary condition, we argue that it might not be a sufficient one to explain the varying degrees of survival/ endurance of de facto states. This analytical essay is an effort to establish directions for research that would better account for the variation among cases by integrating their internal dynamics with what we already know about the role of external factors. Adopting a political sociology perspective, this article focuses on understudied aspects of internal processes and points to the role of local elites in state and nation-building during civil wars and after violence declines. We contend that such a perspective helps to account in a more comprehensive way for the processes underlying the status quo while, at the same time, analyzing the interplay between external and internal dynamics of frozen conflicts. We show that students of de facto states would gain from employing literatures on state-building and nation-building to articulate an analytical framework that would reassess the role of local elites in building a state and a nation, and analyze the societal (un)responsiveness as well as the strategies of passive or active accommodation, resistance or opposition within de facto states' populations.