Books & ideas

What is a republican?

Alain Policar — 2024-03-07T09:30:00Z

According to Jean-Fabien Spitz, republicanism's foundational ideals have been betrayed by the very people who purport to defend them against liberalism. An overemphasis on questions of identity makes it possible to forget that the republic was, from the outset, a principle of social justice.

The Illusions of Colonial Schooling

Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch — 2023-06-20T14:45:05Z

What motivated French colonisers to found schools in the Maghreb and Subsaharan Africa? Carole Reynaud-Paligot shows how their superiority complex ended up overcoming their meritocratic ideals and dreams of diversity.

The general interest of humanity

Stéphanie Roza — 2023-01-24T08:00:00Z

What if the impending ecological crisis required a recommitment to republicanism? This is Serge Audier's thesis: we must not respond to environmental challenges with an anti-modern or anti-statist reflex, but with a new conception of the general interest.

The Republic and the Witch

Vincent Bourdeau — 2017-06-08T07:30:00Z

In order to fix a society, it is not necessary to wield the “civilising” stick of republicanism. The novels of George Sand, far from being mere rustic tales, propose a clandestine way of doing politics – a democratic project undertaken with no preaching or violence.

Fighting Terrorism with Emergency Legislation

Florent Guénard — 2017-01-09T08:00:00Z

The state of exception has a long history in France. Intended as a measure for dealing with crises of any sort, it is now used as a response to terrorism. According to legal expert François Saint-Bonnet, however, there is no evidence that it is the right solution to the kind of terrorism that strikes today.

The Colonial Margins of Citizenship

Samuel Hayat — 2016-12-19T08:00:00Z

By studying political and legal debates over citizenship through the prism of the colonial situation in the nineteenth century, in the metropole as well as the colonies, Silyane Larcher proposes a new genealogy of citizenship and asks us to rethink how the French Republic was constructed.

A Glimpse of Free Government?

Jean-Fabien Spitz — 2015-05-04T05:30:00Z

How should one interpret the “Allegory of Good Government”, a fresco painted by Lorenzetti in the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena in 1338? Is it praising the law that preserves the peace within the city and protects individuals, or the wisdom that naturally guides men towards the common good?

Joan W. Scott's Critical History of Inequality

Clyde Plumauzille — 2014-12-22T08:00:00Z

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.

The Politics of Disagreement

Emile Chabal — 2012-12-03T08:00:00Z

How comprehensive can a history of modern French political thought claim to be? Jeremy Jennings has undertaken to capture the complexity of modern French politics in ten thematic chapters.

Oiling the Wheels of Democracy

Émilie Frenkiel — 2012-08-13T13:03:31Z

How to renew the currently dwindling support for democratic governance? To the minds of theorists and historians, whether advocating going back to classical political traditions like Republicanism or drawing lots, or experimenting new approaches, increased political participation may be the best path to follow.