Research Interest
Federalism, Nationalism, War Ethics, Political Theory
Dr Jean-François Caron is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Nazarbayev University. Prior to his hiring at Nazarbayev University, Dr. Caron served as an Assistant Professor at the Université de Moncton (Canada) and as a Lecturer at the Université Laval, the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi and the Institute of European Studies at the Université libre de Bruxelles.
Dr Caron’s research focuses on various issues, such as the conditions of unity and political stability in multinational states, the redefinition of national identities in context of ethnocultural diversity as well as contemporary War Ethics.
In addition to editing 2 volumes, Dr Caron has authored 6 monographs and more than 20 peer reviewed articles and book chapters. His studies have appeared in various journals, such as Politique et sociétés, the Bulletin d’histoire politique, Nationalism & Ethnic Politics, National Identities, The International Journal of Canadian Studies, The Journal of Intercultural Studies, Critical Military Studies and the Journal of Military Ethics.
Dr Caron is also the Director of “The Steppe and Beyond : Studies on Central Asia” series at Palgrave MacMillan and of “Agora canadienne” series with Laval University Press.
Books
The War of the Machines : Contemporary Technologies and the Morality of Warfare, London : Routledge, (forthcoming in 2019).
(ed.) Kazakhstan : gouvernance et société (Kazakhstan : Governance and Society), Québec : Presses de l’Université Laval (forthcoming in 2018).
Disobedience in the Military : Legal and Ethical Implications. London : Palgrave MacMillan (forthcoming in 2018).
A Theory of the Super Soldier: The Morality of Capacity-Increasing Technologies in the Military, Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2018. French version published in 2018 by les Presses de l’Université Laval.
George Brown: fédéralisme et non-domination (George Brown : Federalism and Non-Domination), Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval, 2017.
Être fédéraliste au Québec : comprendre les raisons de l’attachement des Québécois au Canada (Being Federalist in Quebec : Understanding the Reasons for Quebec’s Attachment to Canada), Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval, 2016.
(eds. With Marcel Martel) Le Canada français et la Confédération : origines et bilan critique (French Canada and Confederation : Origins and Critical Assessment) Québec : Presses de l’Université Laval, 2016.
(ed.) Unité et fragmentation des sociétés multinationales: regards croisés sur la Catalogne, l’Écosse, la Flandre et le Québec (Unity and Secession in Multinational States : The Cases of Catalonia, Sctoland, Flanders and Quebec), Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval, 2016.
Lucien Bouchard : le pragmatisme politique (Lucien Bouchard : Political Pragmatism), Québec : Presses de l’Université Laval, 2015.
La guerre juste : essais sur l’éthique contemporaine de la guerre, (Just War : Essays on the Ethics of Contemporary Warfare) Québec : Presses de l’Université Laval, 2015.
Affirmation identitaire du Canada : politique étrangère et nationalisme, (Canada’s Foreign Policy: Essay on the Contemporary Challenges of Canadian Nationalism) Montreal : Athena, 2014.
Selected peer-reviewed articles
“Evaluating the Value of Moral Actions Performed by War Criminals“, Critical Military Studies, 2017.
“Exploring the Extent of Ethical Disobedience Through the Lens of the Srebrenica and Rwanda Genocides: Can Soldiers Disobey Lawful Orders?”, Critical Military Studies (published online in February 2017).
“La déclaration de souveraineté de la nation atikamekw : les méandres de l’octroi d’un titre aborigène” (The Sovereignty Declaration of the Atikamekw Nation: The Twists and Turns of Obtaining an Aboriginal Title), Canadian Ethnic Studies, Vol. 48, No. 1, 2016.
“An Ethical and Judicial Framework for Mercy Killing on the Battlefield”, Journal of Military Ethics, Vol. 13, No. 3, 2014.
“Rethinking the Sense of Belonging of Ethnocultural Minorities Through Reasonable Accommodations in a Liberal Perspective”, Journal of Intercultural Studies Vol. 35, No. 6, 2014.
“The Exclusive Nature of Quebec’s Contemporary Nationalism: The Pitfalls of Civic Nationalism”, International Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol. 47, 2013, pp. 221-238.
“Understanding and Interpreting France’s National Identity: The Meanings of Being French”, National Identities, Vol. 15, No. 3, 2013.
“Rooted Cosmopolitanism in Canada and Quebec’s National Identities”, National Identities Vol. 14, No. 2, 2012.
With Guy Laforest, “La utilitat i els reptes del federalisme al segle XXI”, Activitat Parlamentària, No. 21, Avril 2010, pp. 32-37.
Jean-François Caron (first author) and Guy Laforest, “Canada and Multinational Federalism : From the Spirit of 1982 to Stephen Harper’s Open Federalism”, Nationalism & Ethnic Politics, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2009, pp. 27-55.
Selected conferences :
Super Soldiers and Transhumanism, The 9th Conference of the Beyond Humanism Conference Series, Rome, Italy, July 2017.
The Ethical Reasons of Limited Retribution for War Criminals, 7th Annual Conference of the European Society for Military Ethics, Brussels, Belgium, May-June 2017.
The Contemporary Politics of Kazakhisation : Reflections on Astana’s Architectire, 7th International Conference on the Constructed Environment, Krakow, Poland, May 2017.
The Ethics of Soldiers’ Enhancement, Annual Meeting of the International Society for Military Ethcs, Ethics & Military Professionalism: Cyber Warfare and Other Conflicts, Washington, USA, January 2017.
The Ethics of Soldiers’ Enhancement, Annual Meeting of the International Society for Military Ethcs, Ethics & Military Professionalism: Cyber Warfare and Other Conflicts, Annapolis, United States Naval Academy, January 2017.
War Criminals’ Road to Damascus’ Moment, The Third European Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy, Brighton, UK, July 2016.
Debating the Moral Questions of the Super Soldier, ICMSE 2016: 18th International Conference on Management Science and Engineering, Rome, May 2016.
Exploring the Extent of Ethical Disobedience through the Lens of the Srebrenica and Rwanda Genocides: Can Soldiers Disobey Lawful Orders?, The Sixth Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy, Kobe, April 2016.
Quebec and Confederation : Federalism as a Mechanism for the Recognition of Canada’s Dualism, French Canada and Confederation, Moncton, September 2014.
The Future of Scotland : International Implications and Comparisons, Ditchley Foundation, June 2013, Oxford.
The Political Challenges of Technologies and Science: An Introduction, Just War Theory
