
About me
Élise Féron is a Docent and a senior research fellow at the Tampere Peace Research Institute (Finland). She lectures for the MA in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research. Before moving to Finland, she held permanent positions at the University of Kent (UK) and at Sciences Po Lille (France).
She holds an Accreditation to Supervise Research (Docent) and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Lille (France, 2003 and 1999).
She is an invited professor at the University of Louvain (Belgium), at the University of Turin (Italy), at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), at Sciences Po Lille (France) and at the Université Lumière de Bujumbura (Burundi).
Fields of expertise
Élise Féron has chaired 7 major international projects over the past 15 years, funded by the EU (FP6, FP7, EuropeAid, Interreg IVC), the KONE Foundation and the Academy of Finland.
Her main research interests include conflict-generated diaspora politics, conflict prevention, gender and peace negotiations, masculinities and conflicts, sexual violence in conflict settings, as well as post-colonial interstate relations.
She has collected data in various so-called "conflict" or "post-conflict" areas, such as Eastern Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, the South Caucasus and the Balkans, among other places.
Mission statement
Main current research projects:
2019-2023 Project leader and main applicant, “Diasporas and Transportation of Homeland Conflicts: Inter-group Dynamics and Host Country Responses”, funded by the Academy of Finland.
2019-2021 Project leader and main applicant, “Pilot 4 Research and Policy Dialogue”, funded by EuropeAid for the benefit of the Government of Tanzania.
2017-2020 Project leader and main applicant, “Regional Challenges to Multilateralism”, research project funded by the KONE Foundation.
Research topics
Main research interests: conflict-generated diaspora politics, conflict prevention, gender and peace negotiations, masculinities and conflicts, sexual violence in conflict settings, as well as post-colonial interstate relations.
Research unit
Selected publications
Books (past 5 years)
(2021) Diasporas and Conflict Transportation: Challenges and Creative Practices. Tampere: TAPRI Book Series. Edited in collaboration with Cæcilie Svop Jensen.
(2021) Handbook of Feminist Peace Research. London and New York: Routledge. Edited in collaboration with Tarja Väyrynen, Swati Parashar, and Catia C. Confortini.
(2020) Shedding light on a changing international order: theoretical and empirical challenges. Tampere: TAPRI Book Series. Edited in collaboration with Marko Juutinen, Jyrki Käkönen, and Karim Maïche.
(2019) Revisiting Regionalism and the Contemporary World Order. Leverkusen-Opladen: Barbara Budrich Publishers. Edited in collaboration with Jyrki Käkönen and Gabriel Rached.
(2018) Wartime Sexual Violence against Men: Masculinities and Power in Conflict Zones. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
Peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters (past 5 years)
(2022) “Power/Resistance: External Actors, Local Agency and the Burundian Peacebuilding Project” (with Keith Krause), European Journal of International Security. https://doi.org/10.1017/eis.2022.2
(2022) “Understanding Conflicts as Clouds: An Exploration of Northern Irish Conflict Narratives” (with Sofiya Voytiv), Globalizations. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2022.2031793
(2022) “Diasporas, Home Conflicts, and Conflict Transportation in Countries of Settlement.” In Liam Kennedy (ed.), Routledge International Handbook of Diaspora Diplomacy. London and New York: Routledge: 296-306.
(2021) Exploring the Potential of Cross-Regional Dialogue Platforms in Protracted Conflict Settings” (with Marko Lehti, Vadim Romashov & Sebastian Relitz), Journal of Dialogue Studies, 9: 97-119.
(2021) “Toward a Theory of Diaspora Formation through Conflict Deterritorialization” (with Sofiya Voytiv), Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 21(3): 210-224. http://doi.org/10.1111/sena.12354
(2021) “Host State Reactions to Home State Diaspora Engagement Policies: Rethinking State Sovereignty and Limits of Diaspora Governance” (with Bahar Baser), Global Networks. https://doi.org/10.1111/glob.12341
(2021) “Towards an intersectional approach to populism: Comparative perspectives from Finland and India” (with Shweta Singh), Contemporary Politics, 27(5): 528-549. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2021.1917164
(2021) “From Women to Gender and Intersectionality: Rethinking Approaches to Economic Vulnerability and Resilience.” In Pascaline Gaborit and Donath Olomi (eds.), Learning from Resilience Strategies in Tanzania. An Outlook of International Development Challenges. Brussels: Peter Lang: 287-307.
(2021) “Conflict Prevention, Dialogue and Resilience: Exploring Links and Strategies.” (with Cæcilie Svop Jensen). In Pascaline Gaborit and Donath Olomi (eds.), Learning from Resilience Strategies in Tanzania. An Outlook of International Development Challenges. Brussels: Peter Lang: 261-283.
(2021) “Gender and diaspora.” In Tarja Väyrynen, Élise Féron, Swati Parashar and Catia C. Confortini (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Feminist Peace Research. London and New York: Routledge: 428-436.
(2020) “Burundi Women’s Grassroots Preventive Mediation” (with Tarja Väyrynen and Marko Lehti), Peace Review, 32(3): 367-373.
(2020) “Embracing Complexity: Diaspora Politics as a Co-Construction”, Migration Letters, 17(1): 27-36.
(2020) “Nationalisme, extrémisme et ordre de genre : l’exemple du Nordic Resistance Movement.” Revue Internationale et Stratégique, 119 : 97-106.
(2020) “Reinventing conflict prevention? Women and the prevention of the reemergence of conflict in Burundi.” Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 37(3): 239-252.
(2020) “National populism and gendered vigilantism: The case of the Soldiers of Odin in Finland.” (with Sarai Aharoni), Cooperation and Conflict, 55(1): 86-106. DOI: 10.1177/0010836719850207
(2020) “Religions et conflits, comprendre les liens.” In Philippe Portier and Frédéric Ramel (eds.), Le Religieux dans les conflits armés contemporains. Paris. Classiques Garnier: 77-100.
(2020) “Regional organizations and the management of the conflict in Burundi: Too many players?” In Élise Féron, Marko Juutinen, Jyrki Käkönen, and Karim Maïche (eds.), Shedding light on a changing international order: theoretical and empirical challenges. Tampere: TAPRI Book Series: 109-131.
(2020) “When Is It Torture? When Is It Rape? Discourses on Wartime Sexual Violence.” In Catia Confortini, Tiina Vaittinen (eds.), Gender Global Health and Violence: Feminist Perspectives on Peace and Disease. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
(2019) “Religion, Churches, and the Recurring Conflict in Madagascar.” (with Velomahanina Razakamaharavo), Peace Review, 31(3): 365-371.
(2019) “Diasporas and conflicts – understanding the nexus.” (with Bruno Lefort) Diaspora Studies, 12(1): 34-51.
(2018) “Social Strife.” In Marc Bornstein (ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development. Thousand Oaks: Sage: 2095-2096.
(2017) “Gender and Peace Negotiations: Why Gendering Peace Negotiations Multiplies Opportunities for Reconciliation.” In Mark Anstey and Valérie Rosoux (eds.), Negotiating Reconciliation in Peacemaking: Quandaries of Relationship Building. New York: Springer: 93-109.
(2017) “Les Dieux en guerre malgré eux ?” In Alain Dieckhoff and Philippe Portier (eds.), Religion et Politique. Paris : Presses de Sciences Po, Enjeu Mondial : 167-176.
(2017) “Support Programs for Male Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.” In Ron Anderson (ed.), Alleviating World Suffering, The Challenge of Negative Quality of Life. New York: Springer: 335-347.
(2017) “Wartime sexual violence against men: Why so oblivious?” European Review of International Studies, 4(1): 60-74.
(2017) “Transporting and Re-Inventing Conflicts: Conflict-Generated Diasporas and Conflict Autonomisation.” Cooperation and Conflict, 52(3): 360-376.