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.
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?
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.
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.
Based on a collective survey, Christine Détrez intends to deconstruct the term ‘crush’ and explores the social meanings underlying the many ways young people aged between 12 and 25 form relationships and learn about love.
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
About: Fabrice Langrognet, Neighbours of Passage: A Microhistory of Migrants in a Paris Tenement, 1882–1932, Routledge
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.
Over the past few months, Books and Ideas has been running a series of interviews with leading contemporary scholars, who took the time to discuss their particular topics of research with us. For the Christmas season, we have put together a selection of seven discussions with intellectuals across the humanities and sciences: sociology, history, comparative literature, neuro-biology, anthropology and political science.
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change is three years old this week but is already under attack. In support of further necessary action to address the changing climate, Public Books & La Vie des Idées offer a collaborative series of articles examining the intersection of climate change and capitalism.
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 questions our global consumerism, looks back in its history and analyses its legal framework.
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.
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.
Ronald Dworkin’s innovative and politically ambitious work has become essential reading in political and legal theory. Taking issue with classical political liberalism, he argues that liberty and equality are not mutually exclusive, and are indeed inseparable. And against traditional interpretations of law, he argues that law must be understood by comparing it to a collective novel, a mixture of creativity and interpretation.
Pourquoi la connaissance scientifique ne déclenche-t-elle pas l’action politique requise ? Au-delà du déni ou de l’impuissance, la cause en est peut-être plus profondément dans l’occultation structurelle de nos conditions d’existence.
L’ouvrage classique d’Annette Lareau, récemment traduit en français, éclaire la socialisation primaire d’un nouveau jour, en montrant l’importance des stratégies parentales d’éducation et les inégalités qu’elles perpétuent, entre “mise en culture concertée” et “pousse naturelle” des enfants.
Une équipe franco-allemande a analysé les photos – devenues iconiques – de l’arrivée des Juifs hongrois à Auschwitz en 1944. Il s’agit autant de documenter le meurtre de masse que de comprendre le processus de construction de l’album.
À propos de : Guillaume Blanc, La Nature des hommes. Une mission écologique pour « sauver » l’Afrique, La Découverte
Recensé : Bruno Dumézil, Charlemagne, Puf
À propos de : Jonas Pardo et Samuel Delor, Petit manuel de lutte contre l’antisémitisme. Reconnaître, décrypter, combattre, Éditions du commun
