Towards a Vigilant Society

Front matter

From Citizen Participation to Anti-Migrant Vigilantism

A British Academy Monograph

The British Academy has a scheme for the selective publication of monographs arising from its British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships, British Academy Newton International Fellowships and British Academy / Wolfson Fellowships. Its purpose is to assist individual scholars by providing a prestigious publishing opportunity to showcase works of excellence.

Introduction

Defining vigilantism

The functions and objectives of vigilantism

Vigilantism: historical examples

The voluntary dimension of vigilantism: acting for safety The social anchoring of the vigilante dynamic

Relations between the state and the vigilante groups Conclusion

Contemporary vigilantism

Outlines of neo-vigilantism

Studying neo-vigilantism in France and the United Kingdom

Participation with a perspective beyond immediate security

Field research

Surveillance with no sense of immediate danger

Building symbolic and material borders

Vigilance networks, social capital accumulation and insertion in local politics

Anti-migrant vigilantism as a social movement practice Political and moral economy of the social reaction to migration Conclusion vil vi

Contents

Anti-migrant Groups in Calais: the Spectacle of Vigilance A complex political game

Activist profiles and trajectories

An agonistic vision of the world

The spectacular dimension of action: ‘paper’ vigilantism Conclusion

Methodology: using a mixed methods approach Actors in the field of contentious migration Social movement framing and political ideologies Conclusion

Trajectories of Engagement Reasons for engagement on migration issues Practices of vigilantism

Video activism: an emerging trend in social movement activity

Conclusion Conclusion Bibliography