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.
In ancient times, mythological and historical criminals were not always inhuman. They show us that there is nothing universal about our self-evident truths, particularly when they concern such fundamental concepts as good and evil.
Ukraine’s water networks have been mobilized since the start of the war in 2014. Infrastructure workers are some of the last to leave settlements attacked by the Russian army. Water systems and people are resisting but are reaching the limits of their capacity to adapt to violence and disruptions.
In this recent interview, Walzer reflects on his life of political commitment. From the creation of Dissent to the publication of the acclaimed Spheres of Justice, here is the journey of one of the most influential political theorists of the XXth century.
While public authorities currently seem to prefer to use incentives rather than constraints to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, economists are developing increasingly effective tools to measure the effectiveness of these policies.
The “Europe of the market” has dominated European social and economic policy since 1945. Yet three other models have opposed the liberal paradigm: solidarity, neomercantilism, and ultra-liberalism.
About: Francis Wolff, Le temps du monde, Fayard
About: Maxence Brischoux, Géopolitique des mers, Puf
About: Pierre-Yves Quiviger, Une philosophie du vin, Albin Michel
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.
The EU aims for net climate neutrality by 2050, utilizing the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) as its main tool. But the climate crisis demands more than market mechanisms. It requires comprehensive planning and legal frameworks that prioritize public over private interests.
Jane Mansbridge has made a major contribution to political theory. She has spent her life combining empirical research with a theoretical approach, and has played a vital role in developing the critique of rational choice and the study of democracy as a permanent process continually in flux.
In this virtual roundtable published in partnership with Public Books, six contributors from France, Russia and the US address the issue of contemporary Russia and its often tense relations with the West.
Books & Ideas is slowing down for the summer. In the meantime, here is a selection of essays, reviews and interviews published over the past year, exploring the relationship between music and politics.
We seem to struggle to take the measure of the Covid-19 pandemic. Its onset was sudden, its effects are uncertain and its long term consequences are still unpredictable. Books & Ideas gathers a selection of texts exploring the various facets of epidemics.
Leading 19th century statesman, political economist, architect of the 1860 commercial treaty between France and the United Kingdom, and campaigner for peace between European nations, Michel Chevalier had also been a dominant voice in the Romantic socialism of Saint-Simonianism: the eclectic nature of his thought would lend itself to a particular vision of Europe, forerunner of today’s European Union.
What distinguishes a blank canvas from an empty frame? A simple object from a readymade? What is this mysterious gap that art digs as it separates from life? Such are the questions posed by Arthur Danto, a major figure of contemporary art theory.
Les pratiques vestimentaires nous font percevoir combien la société dans laquelle nous vivons nous modèle, jusque dans nos goûts et dégoûts, selon la classe et le genre.
Entre distance et proximité, l’État (colonial ou national) a toujours su maintenir une relation complexe et ambiguë avec la religion en pays musulman, comme le montre l’enquête approfondie de M. Zeghal.
L’école est obligatoire et elle est pleinement justifiée à l’être. L’autorité éducative n’est nullement une atteinte à la liberté, si elle s’attache à développer les capacités, plurielles, des élèves.
À propos de : Stéphane Lacroix, Le Crépuscule des saints. Histoire et politique du salafisme en Égypte, CNRS Éditions
À propos de : Sandra Hoibian, La mosaïque française. Comment (re)faire société aujourd’hui ?, Flammarion
À propos de : Michael O. Hardimon, Repenser la race, Agone