Institut français

Is the Islamic State a state, as it claims to be? Or does it designate a new form of imperial sovereignty? Matthieu Rey traces the history of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, starting with European colonial rule and the two Gulf wars.

The French economy’s lack of “competitiveness” is often attributed to high labor costs. Recent research, however, suggests that the export performance of advanced countries has less to do with labor costs than with product quality and the ways businesses invest.

Although a useful instrument of representative government, a referendum is not the embodiment of direct democracy that many like to believe. It is an act of acclamation rather than real participation in state affairs, and should be restricted by legal provisions that limit its scope.

The criticism of “gender theory” that is expressed in some Catholic circles is not just a travesty of gender studies: it detracts from the development of a feminist theology and current efforts at establishing a dialogue within the Catholic Church.

While confessing her admiration for Thomas Piketty, American economist Nancy Folbre has three objections to his theories. What is the impact of labor inequalities on class conflicts? What part do gender-based differences play? And lastly, aren’t economic inequalities between nations even more problematic than those between individuals?

The policies implemented in response to Europe’s sovereign debt crisis and serious economic imbalances evoke the concept of “competitiveness.” Yet this concept and the measures it implies are ill-suited to Europe’s situation and may worsen its predicament.

In order to tell the history of the communist period, Poland created a mechanism that is uniquely Eastern European: an Institute of National Remembrance, which combines legal investigations with scholarly research. Though it was created for political reasons, the Institute has become a fixture of Poland’s academic and historiographical landscape.

André Gorz’s multiform thought is entirely centred on liberation: from work, which prevents individuals from thriving; from consumption, which grows ever higher; and from the social system, which reduces individuals to mere pawns in a “megamachine”.

In the context of increasing uncertainty regarding how we will source our energy in the future, the bio-inspired chemistry of carbon and hydrogen is, according to Marc Fontecave, destined to play a major role in the development of renewable energies. His laboratory, which works at the crossroads of chemistry and biology, uses biological phenomena such as photosynthesis as its inspiration in inventing new materials, new catalysts and new reactions.

Activists supporting alter-globalization recently met in Tunis for this year’s World Social Forum. This is a good point from which to look back over the history of the alter-globalization movement, from the 1990s to 2013.

Education, microcredit, health policy…. How can we really measure the effectiveness of a public policy? Esther Duflo talks about the principles of the experimental method she has developed and perfected in several situations around the world.

What are the political characteristics of the internet revolution? Plunging into “internet democracy,” Dominique Cardon explores the tensions running through this vast network of networks, including the radical equality of its users, their very conspicuous subjectivity, the creation of new kinds of solidarity, and the construction of legitimacy.

The attention given today to the armed uprising in Syria must not conceal the fact that there also exists a peaceful revolutionary dynamic, which is deeply rooted in society. The new generations, mainly urban and more educated than their parents, are at the forefront of a movement of political contestation that is trying to occupy public space through various means.

Mayotte joined the ranks of French departments in 2011. Although it passed almost unnoticed, the event reflects an integration that began in the 1970s but that is likely to continue for many years to come. The case of this small island raises the question of how colonial modes of governance can be ended in France’s overseas territories.

Whether they live in French Guyana, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, or Polynesia, indigenous peoples have been largely forgotten during France’s 2011 celebration of its “Year of the Overseas Territories.” Yet their long-standing presence in the French national community has made these remnants of empire laboratories of national belonging—and the heart of France’s political diversity.

The practice of using representative samples in decision making in contemporary political regimes creates an opening for re-establishing sortition (making decisions or filling offices by drawing lots). The diversity that sortition adds to political procedures helps reinforce democratic legitimacy. In Yves Sintomer’s view, we could even introduce sortition into elections.

What do we really know about the costs and benefits of redistribution for the middle class? Two recent studies demonstrate that while it is certainly heavily taxed, so is the vast majority of the population—including people with low incomes. The real issue lies elsewhere—notably in the privileged situation of the richest 1% and the future of public spending.

The history of Emmaüs, a major movement against homelessness made famous by its charismatic leader, Abbot Pierre, is representative of postwar voluntary solidarity associations in France. By describing the stages of its development, Axelle Brodiez-Dolino proposes a typology of conflicts in the voluntary organizations sector.

Are the demands of indignados of all countries fundamentally the same, or does each movement have its distinctive style? For Sylvaine Bulle, Israel’s J14 movement must be understood as a critique of the state of exception.

Far from being natural, the compatibility between the legal orders of the European Union and member states is the result of arrangements and decisions through which judges ensure the preeminence of European norms over national legislation and extend the rule of law over an ever-widening realm.

Protectionism does not date from the 1930s; in fact it was invented in the nineteenth century by German, French and American theorists wary of British commercial power. The historian David Todd thinks that this genealogy – which is often ignored – reduces the taint of nationalism that can cling to the idea of protectionism.