Aube Tollu

• Subcultures in armed political milieus
• Romantic relationships, friendships and family dynamics and involvement in collective violence
• Cultural criminology
• War Studies and the intimate

Current project

Working title: “Romantic Relationships and armed Movement Participation”

My doctoral research examines how experiences of romantic relationships relate to armed social movements, with a particular focus on individuals from France. The project draws on cultural criminology, social psychology, and phenomenology to investigate how intimacy, emotions, and community-building practices intersect with processes of group formation in subcultural environments with a strategy of armed actions.
This work contributes to criminological scholarship by analyzing lived experiences and everyday dynamics, while engaging critically with dominant approaches in the study of political violence and war-making that emphasize state-centered perspectives.
In previous research, I have studied recruitment narratives and propaganda in relation to questions of identity and belonging. I have also examined community-level resistance to recruitment into armed social movements among Somali communities in Kenya.

I teach undergraduate and Master’s students in Criminology and Sociology at Lund University, and I often offer courses in other universities in Europe. My teaching covers topics including cultural criminology, victimhood, terrorism studies, contemporary philosophy of social sciences and the role of emotions in crime and conflict. I welcome questions and discussion from students, who are encouraged to reach out via email to arrange meetings.