Luuk Slooter is Assistant Professor in Conflict Studies (History of International Relations Section, History Department). He is coordinator of the MA program Conflict Studies and Human Rights and teaches the MA course 鈥楿rban Violence鈥�.
His research focuses on urban uprisings, violence, policing, polarization, segregation and everyday peace. He conducted extensive ethnographic research in the French banlieues. More recently he studied the relationship between police officers and young inhabitants of 鈥榮uperdiverse鈥� and 鈥榳hite working class鈥� neighbourhoods in the Netherlands.
Luuk Slooter has a background in 'Intercultural Social Psychology' (MSc, 2006) and 'Conflict Studies and Human Rights' (MA Cum Laude, 2007). In December 2015 he completed his PhD at Utrecht University and l'脡cole des Hautes 脡tudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (highest distinction/tr猫s honorable avec f茅licitations du jury). From 2015-2017 he was assistant professor at the Centre for Conflict Analysis and Management (CICAM) at Radboud University, Nijmegen.
In 2024, he was visiting professor at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
He was co-founder and core member of the 乐鱼后台 IOS platform Contesting Governance. Currently he is coordinator of the 乐鱼后台 Network for Interdisciplinary Policing Studies - Contesting Governance - Utrecht University
Recent books
(2021, Athenaeum - together with Jolle Demmers) - in Dutch -
Is geweld het bewust toebrengen van schade, of is het meer? Mensen sterven dagelijks aan zaken die voorkomen kunnen worden, zoals honger of een gebrek aan medicijnen: is dat ook geweld? Maar wie is dan de dader? Dit Elementaire Deeltje onderzoekt oorzaken en vormen van geweld. We zien dat het een paradoxaal fenomeen is. Geweld is zichtbaar en onzichtbaar. Het verwoest en vernietigt, maar cre毛ert en verandert ook 鈥� en kan daarin constructief zijn
(2019, Palgrave Macmillan)
This book studies and disaggregates the 鈥渃risis of the suburbs鈥� in France through the stories of inhabitants of 4000sud: a suburban neighbourhood of Paris. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research, this book explores the 鈥榤aking鈥� of the French suburban crisis as constituted both 鈥榚xternally鈥� (by state actors) and 鈥榠nternally鈥� (by young people on the street corner). It reveals how the French state鈥檚 understanding of banlieue violence, and subsequent policy measures, contribute to the constitution and hardening of social and spatial boundaries between 鈥榰s鈥� and 鈥榯hem鈥�, and 鈥榟ere鈥� and 鈥榯here鈥�. But most importantly, The Making of the Banlieue takes the reader on a journey from the center of Paris to the heart of 4000sud. It unveils how young suburban residents try to cope simultaneously with the negative images imposed on them from the outside, and the disciplinary expectations of their peers on the street. In search for identity and dignity they navigate life through diverging strategies: they escape the neighbourhood, contest stereotypical images through contentious performances or confirm and act out the image of 鈥榞angster from the ghetto鈥�. Drawing on urban sociology, human geography, and cultural anthropology this book offers new, analytical vocabularies to understand the connections between place-making processes, social identity dynamics and violent performances. The book is written for a broad audience of students, scholars and policy makers interested in contemporary (sub)urban violence in Europe.
Reviews of the book were published in , and .
鈥淭his carefully researched and beautifully written book provides us with a much needed account that resists the homogenisation of banlieue youth as an undifferentiated, rowdy, violent mass. Luuk Slooter invites us to hear their voices; at times unruly, perhaps violent even, but far from the stereotypical images that
demonise them en masse.鈥� 鈥�Professor Mustafa Dike莽, Ecole d鈥橴rbanisme de Paris
鈥淪ince the late seventies, the French 鈥榖anlieues鈥� have been famous all over the world for their riots, with a peak in 2005. However, apart from these pivotal moments, we don鈥檛 know much about these neighbourhoods and their inhabitants. This is why this book is so important: living there, sharing the daily experience of young people, talking with them during months of fieldwork enables Luuk Slooter to offer us an impressive, perfectly documented study: a great monograph!鈥� 鈥�Professor Michel Wieviorka, Fondation Maison des Sciences de l鈥橦omme
鈥淭he book is a rare, nuanced and holistical examination of the implications of one of Europe鈥檚 most important bouts of civil unrest in the past century. It puts human stories to inhabitants of some of the most marginalised areas of contemporary Europe and demonstrates their daily struggles and strategies in an effort to become more, and not less, French.鈥� 鈥�Joseph Downing, European Institute, London School of Economics, UK
Media
Interviews Radio/TV
- 4 July 2023: Interview Podcast De Dag
- 3 July 2023: Interview Radio 1 Journaal en NOS.nl:
- 30 June 2023: Interview Onrust Frankrijk houdt aan
- 6 March 2021: Interview NPO Radio 1 Nieuwsweekend over
- 22 February 2020: Interview NPO Radio 1 Nieuwsweekend 'Les Mis茅rables in de banlieues'
- 27 March 2018: Interview Radio 1 De Nieuws BV '#Ligne 16 verbindt Parijs met de hel'
- 18 February 2017: Interview Radio 1 / nos.nl - Podcast: het beste uit het oog
- 13 February 2017: Interview Radio 1 Met het Oog op Morgen 鈥榃eer rellen in de banlieues鈥�
- 18 November 2015: Interview BNR Radio, 鈥楤eeld van banlieues als broedplaats is te simpel鈥�
- 11 December 2014: Interview Radio 1, Bureau Buitenland 鈥� interview on my PhD research.
Interviews national newspapers/magazines/websites
- 2 Juli 2023: Interview Trouw "In Nanterre begrijpen ze de onvrede van de relschoppers wel".
- 22 November 2022: Interview Trouw. "De banlieue is de springplank naar succes voor de helft van de Franse selectie".
- 27 January 2021: Interview AD/Utrechts Nieuwsblad "Dit is hoe Utrecht de rust op straat probeert te bewaren".
- 29 October 2020: Interview nu.nl "Terrorisme-experts leggen uit waarom het zo onrustig is in Frankrijk".
- 13 February 2017: Interview nos.nl. "Er gaat zeker iets mis in de banlieues, maar het zijn geen no-go areas".
- 24 November 2015: Interview Kennislink "Zet de banlieues niet weg als broeinesten van jihadisme".
- 20 November 2015: Interview Vrij Nederland "Geef de Molenbeken niet de schuld".
- 19 November 2015: Interview Nederlands Dagblad "De banlieues zijn geen 鈥榳ild west鈥�".
- 18 November 2015: Interview Reformatorisch Dagblad "Jihadisme overstijgt banlieues".
Op-eds
- Slooter, Luuk (30-06-2023) , NRC Handelsblad
- Slooter, Luuk (02-02-2021) , Sociale Vraagstukken.
- Slooter, Luuk (18-02-2020) , NRC Next and NRC Handelsblad.
- Slooter, Luuk (24-11-2015) Wijk is niet schuldig, Jihadisme overstijgt grenzen van banlieues, NRC Handelsblad.
- Slooter, Luuk (24-01-2015) Jihadisme overstijgt de grenzen van de banlieues, de Volkskrant.
- Slooter, Luuk (25-08-2014) Zulke rellen zijn ook in Nederland mogelijk/Spoor de Fergusons in Nederland op, NRC Next and NRC Handelsblad.
- Slooter, Luuk (05-05-2012) De jacht op de stem van de voorstedelingen, Trouw.
- Slooter, Luuk (22-09-2011) Dit is clich茅matige geweldsporno, NRC Next.