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.
Since the two World Wars, the victim has been raised to the status of a sacred and predominant figure in historical memory. The victim has become the new figure of the hero, thus setting a new and controversial example.
As multilateral cooperation is increasingly under attack, Katerina Linos challenges certain misperceptions about the role of international institutions, particularly the European Union, and emphasizes their capacity for action in times of multiple crises.
Why do we believe that our societies are freer, more prosperous or more democratic thanks to the institution of private property rather than in spite of it?
By shedding light on alternative ways of life that have hitherto been kept in the shadows, Constance Rimlinger shows that ecofeminist utopias are a reality that seeks emancipation from capitalism and patriarchy.
About: Christine Détrez, Crush. Fragments du nouveau discours amoureux, Flammarion
About : Julie Pagis, Le prophète rouge, La Découverte
About: Julie Madon, Faire durer les objets. Pratiques et ressources dans l’art de déconsommer, Les Presses de Sciences Po
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.
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 our second winter selection of reviews and essays, Books & Ideas takes a look back at a few important articles published over the last year on the current developments and trends affecting public spaces for expression and debate : from the traditional media to the world wide web, these different spaces are all under pressure from ongoing changes. Rules and practices are evolving, as the traditional public space is being radically enlarged.
After four years of monetary crisis in Europe, with serious political and social consequences for some countries, as well as a general mistrust of Europe’s political and economic models, new analyses bring light on what happened in 2009 and on how to improve the current situation. Books&Ideas presents them in a selection of essays and reviews on Europe, its money, its construction, and its politics.
Disasters and the tragedies that they entail accumulate, along with human and social science research trying to grasp the significance of their repetition. The aim of the dossier launched today by Books & Ideas is to comprehend the nature of these studies.
For more than thirty years, Joan Scott has been informing and transforming both our history and the way we write history, while encouraging us to question categories and change our modes of thinking. From class struggle to sex differentiation, sexual emancipation and race, she proposes a critical analysis of Republican rhetoric to undermine naturalized forms of inequality.
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.
Books & Ideas is going on holiday for the summer, and will resume its publication schedule in September. In the meantime, we present you with a weekly roundup of our most recent essays and reviews. Our second summer selection features portraits of prominent intellectual figures: Albert Camus, René Dumont, Ronald Dworkin, Joan W. Scott and Max Weber.
Dans un Chili en transition, le gouvernement de Gabriel Boric qui affiche son intention de lutter contre les inégalités sociales se heurte à une remontée de l’extrême droite. Simple réaction à une politique de gauche, ou retour du spectre de Pinochet ?
Fernand Deligny, qui avait créé un réseau d’accueil pour enfants autistes, réfléchit dans un essai inédit sur la manière dont, dans le développement humain, culture et biologie se nouent – ou ne se nouent pas. Les contributions qui accompagnent la publication de cet inédit mettent en lumière l’originalité de ces réflexions.
La génétique s’invite dans les débats sur le haut Moyen Âge : en articulant données biologiques, archéologiques et historiques, elle renouvelle l’étude des migrations et des identités, loin des modèles raciaux et des récits figés d’origine des peuples européens.
À propos de : Annette Lareau, Enfances inégales. Classe, race et vie de famille, ENS Éditions
À propos de : Tal Bruttmann, Stefan Hördler, Christoph Kreutzmüller, Un album d’Auschwitz. Comment les nazis ont photographié leurs crimes, Seuil
À propos de : Guillaume Blanc, La Nature des hommes. Une mission écologique pour « sauver » l’Afrique, La Découverte
