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.
Sandra Ristovska examines how images shape judicial reasoning and the new uncertainties introduced by AI and deepfakes. These technologies amplify longstanding problems of evidence, interpretation, and inequality before the law.
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?
By tracing the history of the French word pute (whore), since the twelfth century, Dominique Lagorgette reveals the mechanisms of linguistic oppression at work in our societies.
A longstanding local historiographical tradition maintains that during the French Revolution, the politics of the city of Orléans were notable for their moderation. Yet this view ignores the presence of highly politicized factions, extending well beyond the revolutionary period.
About: David Copello, Les droits humains armés. Guérillas, dictatures et démocratie en Argentine, Presses universitaires de Rennes
About: Lan Jiang Fu, Confucius revisité. Du marchand confucéen à l’entrepreneur du XXIe siècle, Hémisphères
About : Nadège Vezinat, Le service public empêché, 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.
This dossier examines the recently reopened debate on regional integration in Asia. What are the obstacles to the construction of an Asian Union? How is the issue tackled in Japan, China or Australia?
In the U.S., in France as well with Hugues Lagrange’s book on “the denial of cultures”, culture has again become the focus of poverty studies. Our dossier on “culture of poverty” reviews this new trend and examines a notion that has paradoxically been given a new lease of life by the economic downturn, half a century after Oscar Lewis controversially introduced it.
The media industry has undergone dramatic changes in its technologies and business models. To help us understand the effects of these changes on democracy, Books and Ideas takes the discussion away from simplistic dichotomies between the Internet and the so-called “traditional” press.
Kenzaburō Ōe, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, is a controversial figure in Japan. And rightly so, for there are a great many contradictions in both his fictional and theoretical work. He is a fierce opponent of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, and yet continues to celebrate the heroism of the soldier who finds glory through sacrifice.
Michel Crozier’s work was shaped by the conviction that organizational phenomena create society. He helped pioneer the tools for analyzing groups established to carry out a common project according to a specific system of action and rules of the game.
Sandra Ristovska analyse la manière dont les images façonnent le raisonnement judiciaire et les nouvelles incertitudes introduites par l’IA et les deepfakes. Ces technologies amplifient des problèmes anciens de preuve, d’interprétation et d’inégalités devant la justice.
Pourquoi l’Europe peine-t-elle à faire de sa puissance militaire un projet commun ? Derrière les débats institutionnels, depuis les années 1950, la construction européenne se heurte à une difficulté singulière : partager la souveraineté sans pouvoir pleinement partager les moyens de la défendre.
Toute sa vie, Albert Memmi n’a cessé de scruter les tensions qui le traversaient pour penser la judéité et le judaïsme, la colonisation et la décolonisation, les situations minoritaire et majoritaire, ou encore un sionisme propalestinien.
À propos de : Charlène Dihut et Mathieu Potte-Bonneville (dir.), Planétarium. Un atlas pour le monde à venir, Éditions du Centre Pompidou
À propos de : François Godicheau, Pierre Salmon, Mercedes Yusta, La guerre d’Espagne. 1936-1939. La démocratie assassinée, Tallandier
À propos de : Chantal Jaquet, Révolutions transclasses. Une nouvelle théorie de l’émancipation, Puf
