The Normalisation of Exceptional Counterterrorism Powers

Framing The Terrorist Threat in France
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-67056-0
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 453 g

Reihe: Routledge Critical Terrorism Studies

This book investigates the framing of the terrorist threat in France from 2015 to 2020 as an ‘exceptional’ challenge which requires a ‘special’ public security response.

The book examines how French political actors framed the terrorist threat in French political discourse from an exceptional challenge to a permanent, routine threat. It provides an in-depth critical discourse analysis of the French political narratives surrounding the activation of the ‘état d’urgence’ (state of emergency) following the 2015 Charlie Hebdo and Paris terrorist attacks, and traces this narrative until 2020. The study explores the securitisation-desecuritisation framework, showing how the normalisation of emergency powers reflects the ongoing (re)construction of terrorism within French political contexts. The work demonstrates the importance of threat framing and the securitisation of terrorism by considering the colonial legacies embedded in French counterterrorism (CT) policies. By investigating the intersection of CT political discourse, temporality, and colonial continuity, the book challenges traditional notions of exceptionalism in securitisation. It argues that the routinisation of counterterrorism measures highlights the impossibility of fully desecuritising terrorism (re-establishing the status quo), revealing how these measures are deeply rooted in France’s colonial past.

This book will be of interest to students of terrorism studies, critical security studies, French politics and International Relations.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate, Professional Reference, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gueguin, Marine

Guéguin, Marine

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Öffentliches Recht Verwaltungsrecht Verwaltungspraxis Polizei
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Staatsbürgerkunde, Staatsbürgerschaft, Zivilgesellschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Terrorismus, Religiöser Fundamentalismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen Nationale und Internationale Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Innen-, Bildungs- und Bevölkerungspolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction  Chapter 1: Critical Terrorism Studies as a Field of Research  Chapter 2: The Securitisation Theoretical Framework  Chapter 3: The Politically Constructed and Securitised Terrorist ‘Other’ Post-Charlie Hebdo Attacks  Chapter 4: The Label of ‘guerre contre le terrorisme’: The Progressive Securitisation of the Unprecedented Terrorist Threat  Chapter 5: The Terrorist Threat Post-Paris Attacks: From a Three-month Application of Exceptional Powers  Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Marine Guéguin is a Lecturer in Security Studies and International Relations at Leeds Beckett University, UK. Her research focuses on terrorism and counterterrorism in France, as well as the legacies of colonialism in these practices, both domestically and internationally. In 2025, she published an article in the Journal of Critical Studies on Terrorism titled ‘French normalisation of exceptional powers as a response to terrorism post-Paris attacks’.