The Work of Law Enforcement, Police, and Repressive Organisations (TOPOR)

In the prolongment of activity conducted as part of the CERI-CERIUM Chair in 2018 and 2019, the research group Travail de l’ordre, polices et organisations répressives (TOPOR, “The Work of Law Enforcement, Police, and Repressive Organisations”) aims to constitute a team of researchers whose work is dedicated to maintaining order in contemporary societies. Although most of the members deal with issues related to juridical order and police practices, the team also intends to address questions related to the preservation of moral, sexual, economic, and financial order. From a disciplinary point of view, the group privileges anthropological, sociological, and historical work, with a particularly keen interest in studying the work of law enforcement professionals or of amateurs who take the law into their own hands.

The seminar organised by this group should create the conditions for a deep comparative discussion between researchers working in diverse fields, including in Western states. The meetings (between four and six per year) will allow group members to present their work in progress and invite outside colleagues to speak about their research; there will also be reading seminars and workshops. The group will associate closely with doctoral students focusing on this area of research. Starting from the fact that the question of maintaining order is little studied by the scientific community at Sciences Po, the group will be open to colleagues interested in this theme in other research centres at the institution. The objective of this openness consists in multiplying synergies in order to generate opportunities for collaborative projects.