This study intends to examine China’s use of religious violence and antiterrorism when constructing a narrative of the situation in Xinjiang. While the tensions in Xinjiang are not a new occurrence, their intensity has undoubtedly increased. Human Rights Watch has described it as a “cultural genocide” and several international actors have condemned Chinas treatment of the minority group Uyghurs. While China seems to portray the tensions as a result of several acts of religious terror, there are traces of a more complicated conflict. Furthermore, the study shows that the conflict was rarely described as the result of terrorism before the September 11 terrorist attacks, despite the conflict starting in the early 1990s. At the same time, researchers have claimed that Islamic fundamentalists have been adopted as something of a global antagonist, and the fear of religious violence has been recognized as a threat that needs to be stopped, even if it demands more violence. Thus, this study is concerned with studying how this has been acknowledged in a global setting and used by global actors as a strategic tool to vindicate controversial actions. The study illustrates how religious violence and antiterrorism have been used in the creation of a strategic narrative by China. Strategic narratives have been described as the soft power in the 21st century and a well-suited methodological tool to form a deeper understanding of soft power in international relations. The study is done through a text- and narrative analysis of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ testimony of Xinjiang. The results show that extremist religion and terrorists have been pointed out as a main threat in Xinjiang, while separatist also has been linked to these two. By doing this China has managed to acknowledge its measures against the Uyghur separatist movement as a part of the global war against terror.

In much existing literature the incidence of sexual violence during Hindu-Muslim conflict has been attributed to the militant ideology of Hindu nationalism. This thesis interrogates this view. It first examines the ideological framework laid down by the founding ideologues of the Hindu nationalist movement with respect to sexual violence. I argue that a justification of sexual violence against Muslim women is at the core of their ideology. In order to examine how this ideology has contributed to the actual incidents, this thesis studies the episodes of Hindu-Muslim violence that occurred in 1969, 1985, 1992 and 2002 in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. An examination of these episodes shows that sexual violence against Muslim women, in both extreme and less extreme forms, were significantly motivated by Hindu nationalist ideology. However, in addition to this ideology, patriarchal ideas that serve to normalize sexual violence as ‘sex’ and sanction its infliction to maintain gendered hierarchies also motivated such crimes. Moreover, this thesis argues that the manifestation of Hindu nationalist and patriarchal motivations in acts of sexual violence was enabled by the breakdown of neighbourhood ties between Hindus and Muslims in 1969 and 2002. By contrast, during the 1985 and 1992 riots Hindus and Muslims strengthened neighbourhood ties despite extensive communal mobilization, which seems to have prevented the perpetration of extreme sexual violence against Muslim women. Thus, by providing a comprehensive analysis of the contribution of Hindu nationalist ideology, and arguing for the significance of the patriarchal ideas and neighbourhood ties in the infliction of sexual violence during conflict, this study contributes to and departs from the existing literature.

Ce mémoire porte sur le terrorisme dans l’œuvre de Dostoïevski. Au travers d’une analyse s’appuyant sur la théorie mimétique de René Girard ainsi que sur ses contributions sur Dostoïevski, l’auteur dégage de l’œuvre du romancier russe certains des motifs et éléments de représentation pouvant constituer l’ébauche d’une analytique dostoïevskienne du terrorisme. Cette analytique dostoïevskienne réfute le paradigme de la violence religieuse et conteste la notion de violence découlant de la radicalisation (idéologique ou religieuse) pour rendre compte du terrorisme. Elle montre comment la religion ou l’idéologie sont superficielles et comment doivent plutôt nous intéresser un ensemble de déterminants et médiations psychologiques – les désirs, pulsions, émotions et fantasmes au fondement de la violence – pour rendre compte de la violence. L’analyse des trois figures dostoïevskiennes de Chatov (Les Démons), Raskolnikov (Crime et Châtiment) et Stavroguine (Les Démons) mettent chacune en lumière trois explications causales simplifiées des ressorts et motivations de la violence terroriste. L’étude de Chatov met de l’avant le désir mimétique frustré que sous-tend la violence ainsi que la blessure narcissique, la posture réactionnelle d’opposition et le désir de revanche qu’il produit. Celle de Raskolnikov expose les rêves prométhéens et les désirs d’élévation aux fondements de la violence, mais aussi le récit héroïque auto-mystificateur qu’elle sous-tend. Enfin, l’étude de Stavroguine démontre la centralité de la dimension sexuelle pour rendre compte de la violence terroriste. / This memoir focuses on terrorism in Dostoyevsky's work. Through an analysis based on René Girard's mimetic theory as well as his contributions to Dostoevsky, the author draws from the work of the Russian novelist some of the motifs and elements of representation that constitute the outline of a Dostoevskian analytics of terrorism. This Dostoevskian analytics refutes the paradigm of religious violence and challenges the notion of violence stemming from radicalization (ideological or religious) to account for terrorism. It shows how religion or ideology is superficial and how we should instead be interested in a set of psychological determinants and mediations – desires, impulses, emotions and fantasies at the root of violence - to account for violence. The analysis of the three Dostoevskian figures of Chatov (The Demons), Raskolnikov (Crime and Punishment) and Stavrogin (The Demons) each bring to light three simplified causal explanations of the motives and dynamics of terrorist violence. Chatov's study puts forward the frustrated mimetic desire behind violence as well as the narcissistic wound, the reactionary posture of opposition and the desire for revenge it produces. Raskolnikov's analysis exposes Promethean dreams and desires of elevation to the foundations of violence, but also the heroic self-mystifying narrative that it underlies. Finally, Stavrogin's study demonstrates the centrality of the sexual dimension in accounting for terrorist violence.