Christian Vigouroux is president of the Interior section of France’s State Council, after having been Christiane Taubira’s chief of staff and Minister of Justice in Jean-Marc Ayrault’s government. He also teaches public law at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin and at Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne.
Force is necessary as long as there are guidelines. Is resorting to force – be it military, police-related or political – ever desirable? Is it legitimate? Does a right to use force exist?
Those are the questions that Christian Vigouroux aims to answer in this book, by refusing simplification: we can not simply refuse force in the name of respecting freedom, nor can we suddenly declare that we are at war. A legitimate use of force must be defined.
Christian Vigouroux’s essential point is that force is not the same as violence. It is not the force that destroys or coerces; it is public force, which is subject to the law, and is at the service of the public.
This book is a defence of a controlled use of force. Thus it suggests a manner of governing that is based on the courage of exerting force. The idea is not to create fear, but to accept responsibility. This book is an appeal to political courage.