Introducing OESE

These days, we're witnessing a rapid chain of social tensions and mini-crises. Conflicts are multiplying. Some, like that of the Gilets jaunes, are unprecedented in nature. Strikes, demonstrations, blockades, riots are our daily lot. How do we think about such an increase?

Management

Christophe Bourseiller, Director of OESE

Board of Directors

A team made up of teacher-researchers and documentation professionals from the Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, in conjunction with the Observatoire des Extrémismes et Signes Emergents, meets regularly to carry out this project for the physical and digital enhancement of this exceptional collection.

- Christophe Bourseiller (Director OESE)

- Frédéric Attal (Director of ISH and Professor of Contemporary History)

- Arnaud Huftier (Representative of the UPHF presidency)

- Stéphane Lambrecht(Director of LARSH and university professor of economics)

- Nelly Sciardis (Curator and director of UPHF libraries)

- Vanessa Barbé (Professor of public law)

- Quentin Lemeiter & Cannelle Dumortier (Responsible for the conservation and valorization of the Christophe Bourseiller donation)

Extremization of societies and democratic values

At the same time, extremist currents are growing in influence. We cannot turn a blind eye to the international rise of "populism". It goes hand in hand with the radicalization of political discourse.
We are witnessing a kind of extremization of societies, which calls into question our democratic values.
In such a context, it becomes urgent to make sense of this chaos and to try to shed some light on it, in the light of the human sciences and especially history.

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An Observatory backed by the Christophe Bourseiller Fund

The UPHF is home to the archive created by Christophe Bourseiller. This fund is constantly welcoming new donations, and has an international Scientific Council, thereby extending its field of study to all countries. The Observatoire des extrémismes et des signes émergents (OESE) aims to study marginal phenomena from a variety of angles: political, philosophical, historical and sociological. We do not ignore the cultural dimension. It appears that minority movements are often the unwitting incubators of new ideas, which then spread throughout society as they become diluted. This is why, among other things, we wish to highlight these "weak signals" emitted from the margins, which we refer to as "emerging signs".

OESE missions

The OESE has set itself three missions:

To set up a daily watch on extremist movements. We will regularly publish notes addressed to journalists and public authorities.
Organize an annual symposium on a topic related to the phenomena we're interested in.
Collect and manage new archive collections donated by researchers or activists.