Artists make a name for themselves thanks to their works. But what name? During the Renaissance, artists are usually designated by their first name or by a patronym. But to become famous, painters have often endeavoured to invent the names with which they wanted to achieve fame.
What are the effects of same-sex parenting on the kinship system of Western societies? A collection of international papers edited by two anthropologists of kinship lead them to reject the thesis of an anthropological break or the claim that the current kinship system has been disrupted. Instead, they emphasize the centrality of multiple parenting.
In his new work, François Singly continues to explore the transformations of marital bonds. This time, he approaches it from another angle—that of the “process of uncoupling” experienced by women who have recently separated from their partner. More than just a sociological study of the gender relations at play in a separation, this investigation explores the engagement and disengagement of the self within the ties of marriage.
Approved in 2048, the abolition of marriage turned upside down not only the sexual organization of society but also the idea of lineage. This historical transformation was carried forth by a utopian group that no one, around 2010, had taken seriously. This article looks back at a movement that transformed our lives.
Through the remarkable story of the journey of 264 Japanese miniatures, a world-renowned ceramicist retraces the rise and fall of his family, the Ephrussi, rich Jewish bankers with a dynasty which spread across Europe from Odessa and Paris to Vienna. His book is an example of how history can lie at the heart of literature.
Foreign opposition to the Chinese one-child policy build up in 1980s, put forth by American conservatives looking for an anti-abortion cause célèbre. But looking at this most famous of Chinese reforms as coerced obedience is inadequate: Chinese leaders have turned from a view of population control as a means to economic ends, and the Chinese population has followed them.
Is there still room for hope at the White House?
Liberty, equality, or fraternity between the generations — how should we think about “fair” transfers from one generation to the next? In a meticulous and bold essay, André Masson demonstrates that the French republican motto can be used as a key to the different theories that attempt to explain the ties between generations. He views his position as “upstream” of current debates about the emergence of and need for a reformulation of our public policies concerning intergenerational ties.
Transformations of work disrupt family time. Relying on a rigorous statistical approach, Laurent Lesnard draws attention to the consequences produced in family life by the turmoil of atypical working hours. While his demonstration of this phenomenon is convincing, his interpretation of it is more questionable.
Are the arguments regarding ’the interest of the child’ given by opponents of same-sex parenting founded? Recent studies in the United States compare the academic achievement, personal development and mental health of children raised by same-sex couples with those of children raised by heterosexual couples.
Exploring the relationships between the economy and the family through the issue of
financial compensation for the death of a child or decisions relating to food allowance, the
work of Viviana Zelizer shows how the family has been become a sacred object since the
end of the 19th century and is now considered to be shielded from the world of economics.
Isaac Martin gives us an account of the American welfare state, at a time when the current economic crisis seems to pave the way for a new New Deal. According to him, however, it is unlikely that the Democrats push back on the welfare reforms of the 1990s: despite their conservative origin, they have made some social and political progress possible.
