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.
French liberalism, which first emerged during the Restoration, focused not only on individual rights: it also shaped the history of the mass as a subjugated political entity.
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.
By scapegoating international organisations, Trump’s attacks are undermining multilateralism and the liberal order that emerged in 1945. This American disengagement is reopening the debate on a possible alternative leadership role for the EU.
The colonial period was eager to classify races according to their biological and cultural dispositions for war. The prejudice would persist through the wars of decolonization.
We talk about the Earth without truly understanding it. An overview of recent knowledge about the “Earth system” and its concerning state invites us to promote a new way of looking at the environment and the political approaches required.
About: Frédéric Monferrand, La nature du capital. Politique et ontologie chez le jeune Marx, Éditions Amsterdam
About: Charles Serfaty, Histoire économique de la France, Passés composés
About: Paulin Ismard, Le Miroir d’Œdipe. Penser l’esclavage, Seuil
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.
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.
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.
Books & Ideas is slowing down for the summer and will be offering weekly selections of reviews and essays published over the last year. This week’s selection focuses on digital tools, their relationship to political power and capitalism.
Our Books and Ideas dossier on the American presidential elections will make no forecasts - instead it will look back on four years of Democratic leadership at the White House and four years of right-wing radicalization inside and outside of the G.O.P. Whoever wins will have to deal with the Tea Party, and the record shows it will not be easy for anyone.
Historians, sociologists, and social scientists in general have long tried to “think big” and “global.” The rise of Asia in the world economy has stimulated anew this attraction for the macro-level. Books and Ideas proposes to look at some of the most innovative ways this work has been done recently, in the history of ideas, of trade and cultural exchanges, economic convergences and decolonization.
Rorty made conversation a philosophical genre in its own right, which led him to reject any distinctions he considered futile: between analytic and continental philosophy, between the Enlightenment and postmodernity, between philosophy and literature.
By asserting that structuralism is a fruitful approach to kinship relations or the difference between the sexes, Françoise Héritier radically renewed anthropological methodology. Her life’s work has also shown us that scientific commitment goes hand-in-hand with societal involvement.
John Ruggie, auteur incontournable sur les organisations internationales, a souligné l’importance des normes dans leur fonctionnement. Universitaire et rapporteur spécial de l’ONU, il offre une perspective équilibrée sur les apports du multilatéralisme, sans idéalisation.
Comment les personnels scolaires font-ils face à une diversité religieuse de plus en plus prégnante ? Un collectif replace les mutations des rapports scolaires dans un triangle qui associe quartiers populaires, difficultés scolaires et Islam, donnant lieu à des négociations au plus près des élèves.
Thomas Angeletti montre qu’en tant qu’entité collective et catégorie d’action publique, l’économie française a pris forme relativement récemment. Il propose alors de se pencher sur les instruments, ou « dispositifs de mise en forme », qui lui donnent sa consistance et son pouvoir politique.
À propos de : Vanina Mozziconacci, Apprendre à philosopher en féministe, La Dispute
À propos de : Axelle Brodiez-Dolino, ATD Quart Monde, une histoire transnationale. La lutte contre la pauvreté, d’un bidonville à l’Onu, Puf
À propos de : Maria Cecilia d’Ercole, Silvia d’Intino, Florence Gherchanoc (dir.), Natura. Approches anciennes, enjeux contemporains, Garnier
