The Infrapolitics of Repression: An Introduction

Authors

  • Thomas Chevallier Catholic University of Louvain
  • Joëlle Dussault University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières
  • Julien Talpin University of Lille – CNRS
  • Pascale Dufour Université de Montréal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v19n2p408-418

Keywords:

Infrapolitics, Repression, Control, Non-Profit, Community-Based Organization, Social Movement

Abstract

This article reviews the main issues surrounding repression as covered in the existing literature. The main theoretical issues addressed include the forms of repression, their actors, and their potential effects. This issue brings together research on cases of discreet, informal, hidden, or even invisible repression and control, which nonetheless have a decisive impact on the capacity for political action among groups and the individuals who comprise them. In doing so, this article highlights the scientific and social relevance of the special issue on the infrapolitics of repression, explored through the lived experiences of nonprofits and activist groups. This issue presents different conceptualizations that seek to move beyond the most obvious theorizations of repression, situating it beyond its most visible forms and the obvious actors.

Author Biographies

Thomas Chevallier, Catholic University of Louvain

is a research fellow at the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) affiliated with the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Democracy, Institutions, and Subjectivity (CRIDIS) at the Catholic University of Louvain, as well as an associate researcher at the Center for Administrative, Political, and Social Studies and Research (CERAPS). His current work focuses on the financing of civic life from a comparative perspective (France, Belgium, United States). Among other works, he is the (co-)author of “Toward a depoliticising civic style” in European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology (2022), “Left nationalism in the French Basque Country” in Nations and nationlism (2024), and “Sociologie d’une entreprise d’oubli” in Genèses (2025).

Joëlle Dussault, University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières

is a professor of social work at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (Canada). Her work focuses on the sociology of social movements, repression, and the control of political action. In particular, Dussault is interested in grassroots mobilizations within institutional and community-based settings, especially regarding working conditions, recognition, and care.

Julien Talpin, University of Lille – CNRS

is a sociologist and political scientist, and a CNRS Research Professor. His work focuses on the political participation of working-class and minoritised groups, democratic participation, associative freedoms, and the role of counter-powers in contemporary democracies. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods in France and the United States, with a long-standing focus on Roubaix. He is Deputy Director of CERAPS at the University of Lille, co-director of the GIS Démocratie et Participation, and a leading scholar of community organising, racism, discrimination, and democratic citizenship.

Pascale Dufour, Université de Montréal

is a full professor in the Department of Political Science at the Université de Montréal. She works on social movements and collective action in comparative perspective (Canada, Europe). She is the director of the Collectif de recherche Action Politique et Démocratie (CAPED), an interuniversity research team funded by the FQRSC. One of her current research projects focuses on the informal repression and control of collective rights groups. She has recently published: P. Dufour. 2025, Les fondements institutionnels de la comparaison: une double comparaison. PUM.

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Published

29-06-2026

How to Cite

Chevallier, T., Dussault, J., Talpin, J., & Dufour, P. (2026). The Infrapolitics of Repression: An Introduction. PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO, 19(2), 408–418. https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v19n2p408-418

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 2 (2026): Special Issue on: “The Infrapolitics of Repression”

Section

Special Issue / Editorial

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