Everyday State of Emergency

After the 2015 terrorist attacks in the metropolitan region of Paris, both the governmental counterterrorist plan «Vigipirate» and the state of emergency became key tools to control the city and its citizens. By giving extra power to the national executive branch, mobilizing a multitude of security and military actors, and strengthening preventive regulations, these counterterrorist measures have physically impacted the public spaces of the French capital. Through its investigative account of a commercial centre, a transportation hub, and a public square, this work contributes to clarifying the process of militarization and oversecuritization of the contemporary metropolis.