Description du projet
Recherche comparative sur la dynamique des gangs
Si les gangs existent dans toutes les sociétés, des recherches montrent qu’ils peuvent être très différents par leur composition, leur dynamique et leur impact. Le projet GANGS, financé par l’UE, développera une recherche comparative systématique de la dynamique des gangs à l’échelle mondiale afin de mieux comprendre les raisons de l’émergence des gangs et de leur évolution, ainsi que la manière dont ils s’inscrivent dans différents types de configuration urbaine. Le projet explorera également les facteurs incitatifs qui poussent certaines personnes à rejoindre des gangs, et la manière dont cette adhésion influe sur leur histoire. Le projet s’appuie sur une recherche ethnographique collaborative originale menée dans plusieurs endroits et qui se concentre simultanément sur les gangs, les bandits et les gangs de rue afin d’étudier les interactions entre les groupes, les individus et les facteurs contextuels.
Objectif
Gangs occupy a key position in the global imaginary of violence, widely perceived and represented as primary sources of brutality and insecurity. This can be related to the fact that they are one of a small number of truly global phenomena, found in almost every society across both time and space. At the same time, however, as almost 100 years of gang research have highlighted, the phenomenon can vary significantly in form, dynamics, and consequences. While there have been many insightful studies of gangs, the overwhelming majority have focused on a single group or location, and we still lack a proper sense of what kinds of gang dynamics might be general, and which ones are specific to particular times and places. The GANGS project will develop a systematic comparative investigation of global gang dynamics, to better understand why they emerge, how they evolve over time, whether they are associated with particular urban configurations, how and why individuals join gangs, and what impact this has on their potential futures. It will draw on original ethnographic research carried out in multiple locations, adopting an explicitly tripartite focus on “Gangs”, “Gangsters”, and “Ganglands” in order to better explore the interplay between group, individual, and contextual factors. The first will consider the organisational dynamics of gangs, the second will focus on individual gang members and their trajectories before, during, and after their involvement in a gang, while the third will reflect on the contexts within which gangs emerge and evolve. Research will combine innovative collaborative ethnography in Nicaragua, South Africa, and France, a ground-breaking comparison of 35 individual gang member life histories from across Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and unique joint ethnographic investigations into the political economy of three gang-affected cities in Nicaragua, France, and South Africa.
Champ scientifique
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Régime de financement
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitution d’accueil
1202 Geneve
Suisse