Precarious multiplicity
France, ‘foreign fighters’ and the containment of difference
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8912264 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Xavier Mathieu (0000-0001-7541-7378, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 311-328 |
| Publication date | 2022-05-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cooperation and Conflict (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0010-8367 • E-ISSN: 1460-3691 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00108367221098489 |
| OpenAlex | W4281486670 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 32 |
This article investigates the portrayal by French policy-makers of the so-called Islamic State ‘foreign fighters’. I provide an in-depth analysis of the discursive construction of these ‘foreign fighters’ as different and detached from the (French) Self. I do so through a questioning of the notion of multiplicity, revealing how it exists precariously and the consequences this precariousness has on the notion itself. First, multiplicity emerges in ‘strange’ places as identities are being remodelled through new combinations. Second, the coexistence implied by multiplicity needs to be complexified to account for the way it helps preserve but also sometimes erase difference (and thus multiplicity itself). Finally, because of the precariousness of multiplicity, unexpected outcomes can be produced by the encounter with difference (such as the policy of non-repatriation of the ‘foreign fighters’). Overall, multiplicity can be usefully questioned by looking at these instances of instability and doubt. As such, this article shares the concerns expressed by critical scholars that multiplicity recreates problematic distinctions between inside and outside. As a response, my analysis contributes to an understanding of multiplicity as always in the making, revealing how various discursive strategies are used to temporarily and imperfectly stabilise boundaries
Islam · Law and economics · Multiplicity (mathematics · Political economy · Political science · Repatriation · Sociology · History · Law · Mathematics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Gender, Violence and Security
Foreign Fighters
Road Warriors
The Multiplicity Straightjacket
From Foreign Fighters to Returnees
Making women terrorists into “Jihadi brides”
Talk about terror in our back gardens”
Under the shade of AK47s
French foreign fighters
Multiplicity expanded
Hierarchical multiplicity in the international monetary system
Security as Practice — Discourse Analysis and the Bosnian War
Foreign Fighters and the Case of Chechnya
Waves of the Black Banner
The Swedish Mujahideen
The threat of the ‘returning foreign fighter’
EU’s Response to Foreign Fighters
Jihadist waves
Global Liberal Governance
Agency (mis)recognition in international violence
The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters
Help Wanted? The Mixed Record of Foreign Fighters in Domestic Insurgencies
Critical discourse analysis in analysing European Union foreign policy
Writing security
Bodies that matter
Foreign Bodies
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2024 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |