Sciences Po Aix / Centre Norbert Elias conference: «Mazan. Anthropology of a rape trial. A look back at a collective research experiment» (moderated by Aude Signoles)

Tuesday 10 February 2026 | 18h15 - 20h | Sciences Po Aix, site Saporta, Amphithéâtre René Cassin (Aix-en-Provence)

September 2024. The Mazan trial sends shockwaves. The judicial event spilled out of the courtroom and reverberated through families, professional lives, friendships and love affairs. Anthropologists set out to follow the trial from the courtroom to the streets of Avignon and Mazan. Their investigation yielded hundreds of eyewitness accounts - from journalists, lawyers, members of feminist groups, students, healthcare workers and shopkeepers - offering an unprecedented perspective. - providing an unprecedented perspective on this event. This book gives an insight into the echoes of a social trial and what they reveal about power relationships and relations between women and men. The contributors will look back at the choices and challenges - particularly methodological - faced by their team as they embarked on an ethnographic investigation of this high-profile trial. They will show how their month-long presence in the field and their collective approach to research enabled them to explore the social dynamics underlying sexual violence against women, through the writing of a book-length book.

Speakers:

• Stéphanie Fonvielle, is a lecturer in language sciences at Aix-Marseille University and a member of the Centre Norbert Elias (UMR8562). Working in the field of the linguistics of the written word, her research has focused on literary writings (Marcel Proust, Frédéric Dard) and less-literate writings (Poilus correspondence, gypsy blogs). She is currently working on exposed forms of writing, such as collages and prison graffiti.
• Riwanon Gouez, is a doctoral student in anthropology at the Centre Norbert Elias and the Centre Maurice Halbwachs. Her research focuses on the care practices of Misak parteras (midwives) in Colombia and their role in the face of sexual violence.
• Corentin Legras, is a doctoral student in socio-anthropology at the Centre Norbert Elias and the Centre d'étude des mouvements sociaux. He is working on sexual violence against children. His thesis focuses on cases of incest committed by minors.

All three are part of the Centre Norbert Elias's «Chantiers féministes» research programme.

Moderated by : Aude Signoles, Sciences Po Aix (MESOPOLHIS)

Registration required via the Sciences Po Aix website: https://www.sciencespo-aix.fr/agenda/mazan-anthropologie-dun-proces-pour-viols-retour-sur-une-experience-de-recherche-collective/