Books & ideas

Plato Banned, American Democracy Threatened

Nathan Bracher — 2026-02-24T08:00:00Z

Not only in Texas, where a professor was ordered to remove Plato from his syllabus, but throughout the United States, ideological dictatorship has begun. It amounts to nothing less than an attack on universities, the freedom of speech, and thought. How is it possible to resist in the face of this onslaught?

Uncaptive Mind

Benjamin Balint — 2017-12-14T08:00:00Z

For Czesław Miłosz, certainly the most acclaimed Polish poet of the last century, poetry can serve as “an instrument that raises us above what we are.” In his admiring and authoritative biography, Andrzej Franaszek reveals Miłosz' inner struggles in the context of the upheavals of twentieth-century Poland and of the entanglements of literature and politics.

A Tale of a Chinese Lawyer

Jean-Luc Domenach — 2015-01-01T09:00:00Z

Now a well-known Chinese lawyer of the democratic dissidence in China, Zhang Sizhi was once a young nationalist, a high-ranking official in the court of Beijing and a victim of anti-rightist repression. In his memoirs, he provides a detailed and fascinating description of the profession and China in the second half of the 20^th century.

Time and Collective Memory

Lucie Campos — 2013-12-05T09:00:00Z

Historical episodes of collective violence in the 20^th century have given rise to a series of debates which can be seen as “crises of memory”, according to Susan Rubin Suleiman. As these crises of memory unravel, they have an impact not only on collective memory but also on literature and the public sphere.

Trial by Politics

Pierre Rosanvallon — 2013-10-16T07:00:00Z

Claude Lefort, who died in October 2010, was the author of a great number of titles in political philosophy, working both on history of ideas and interpretation of events, unceasingly questioning the political conditions of freedom.

Masses Taking Over The Square

Kirill Postoutenko — 2012-02-02T08:41:22Z

The ordered occupation of public spaces by the masses played a central role in the rituals of the Soviet state. Drawing on a long tradition of Russian holidays, mass festivals were supposed to display for all to see the happy marriage between leaders and citizenry. They also contributed to the economic collapse of the Soviet Union.