Books & Ideas is the English-language mirror website of La Vie des Idées, a free online journal which has gained a large readership and established itself in France as a major place for intellectual debate since 2007.
Has the idea of value lost value? By considering the concept in its plurality, Éric Dacheux and Daniel Goujoun make a case for an economy that is social, ecological, and deliberative.
Jeanne Tsai and Batja Mesquita show how emotions are shaped by cultural logics that orient our relationships and judgments. Their conversation raises a broader question: what does it mean to understand others in culturally plural societies?
Céline Marty offers an in-depth interpretation and contextualization of André Gorz’s philosophical oeuvre. Through a careful examination of his vision of a society of subjects that are truly autonomous—in work as in life—she sheds light on the coherence and radicalness of this highly original form of ecosocialism.
How does art acquire commercial value? In this book, two historians concentrate on the “first market” for art, which exists prior to the resale market and speculative strategies. It examines the decisive moment when an artwork leaves the studio, the artist sets their price, and the artwork reaches the public.
About: Sacha Todorov, De la City à la ZAD. Une brève histoire des carnavals militants, Classiques Garnier
About: Isabelle Dasque, Le pouvoir des femmes de diplomates, XIXe-XXIe siècles, Nouveau Monde Éditions
About: Axelle Brodiez-Dolino, ATD Quart Monde, une histoire transnationale. La lutte contre la pauvreté, d’un bidonville à l’Onu, Presses universitaires de France
The female silhouette – understood as the body’s visible form and socially perceived appearance – has long been shaped by social norms. In the age of social media, these norms are intensifying, prompting, in response, the rise of so-called “body-positive” movements.
A rumour is circulating in some African countries: the French state is organising penis thefts to offset declining fertility. The rumour, spread by Russian propaganda, has become fake news.
The American sociologist Harrison White made a vital contribution to the development of social network analysis. Besides his work in this field, his theoretical synthesis and his understanding of social formations have influenced a variety of fields such as the sociology of art and economic sociology.
As protests against racism break out all over the world following the murder of George Floyd, Books & Ideas gathers a selection of texts examining the history of these multifaceted discriminations and of the struggles for racial justice.
A selection of five essays and reviews recently published in Books&Ideas discusses the legacy and renewal of social class studies in France, Great-Britain and India.
The last year has been extremely tough for Europe as a political idea. The debt crisis, the rise of the radical right, repeated and widespread attacks against immigrants, foreigners, but also the very concept of supranational solidarity have seemed to bring one of the richest regions of the globe to the brink of collapse. Is the situation as hard as it has been made to look? And where should Europe’s efforts first turn to?
Rediscovering an activist thinker who was at the origins of eco-feminism, but remains unknown. Her work inspired an extremely heterogeneous movement, but has her ambition to concretely transform the social, economic and political organisation of society been pursued?
Ronald Coase (1910-2013), the 1991 Nobel Laureate in Economics, is famous for his oft-quoted and just as often misunderstood “theorem.” His seminal works on transaction costs, property rights, and regulation continue to stimulate a rich reflection in economics and beyond.
According to Nancy Fraser, the renewal of socialism requires a conflation of activism and political theory; indeed, emancipation can only exist on the basis of equal participation in all spheres of life, and can only be understood in terms of social struggles, which today appear in multiple forms.
Le film d’Emmanuel Marre parvient à restituer, non pas l’intériorité inaccessible d’un homme sous Vichy, mais les conditions concrètes dans lesquelles il a agi, ainsi que les effets politiques de ses actes.
À partir de terrains inédits, un ouvrage collectif documente la robustesse de la thèse de la Reproduction, 55 ans après sa parution. Ce faisant, il livre une histoire de la sociologie de l’éducation française depuis les années 1960.
Certaines entreprises affichent des valeurs éthiques pour redorer leur image. Mais comment celles-ci sont-elles reçues, appropriées, négociées ou contestées par les salariés ?
Claudia Feld et Marina Franco, Crimes contre l’humanité à l’ESMA. Anatomie d’un centre de détention clandestin en Argentine (1976-1983), Anamosa
À propos de : Jonathan Thomas, Le Disque politique en France 1929-1939, Presses Universitaires de Rennes
À propos de : Stéphane Beaud, Zinedine Zidane, La Découverte
