Presentation of the Research Chair
The VESPA research laboratory was created under the auspices of the Canada Research Chair in Urbanity, Insecurity, and Political Action, and directed by Julie-Anne Boudreau, associate professor at the Centre Urbanisation Culture Société de l’INRS. The chief purpose of this Chair is to analyse perceptions of risk, uncertainty, and insecurity within major cities, and to bring to light their political dimensions.
How do individuals cope with fear, risk, and uncertainty ? How do risk and fear change into political demands ? What repercussions do feelings of insecurity have on the restructuring of the State ? The research pursued by the Chair aims to further understand (1) the role of fear in political activism, and the (2) relationship between urban experiences (of fear, risk, uncertainty and insecurity) and the representations that the State makes of the latter in light of prospective reconfigurations of its functions.
Two pivotal questions structure the Chair’s diverse research projects :
- What is about the city that gives rise to political mobilisation ? The Chair proposes two venues for research : a) City-Insecurity-Mobilization, and b) City-Mobility-Mobilization
- How does the city build itself up as a new political space within the context of the State’s reconfiguration ? How do urban challenges contribute to modifying the role of the State in the management of insecurity ?
