Books & ideas

André Gorz: Thinker of Emancipation

Christophe Fourel & Francoise Gollain — 2014-08-28T07:00:00Z

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”.

There is No Solidarity Economy

Matthieu Hély — 2013-10-23T07:30:00Z

Behind the commendations of the nonprofit sector and the promotion of “Social and Solidarity Economy”, Matthieu Hély discerns the retreat of public service and the deliberate deregulation of the wage system. The nonprofit sector can no longer be idealized and misconstrued as a compromise between different and antagonistic logics. It must be addressed in light of what it has become: a labor market with increasingly precarious actors who have been stripped of the statute formerly guaranteed by public service.

Liberty, Security, Flexibility

Elodie Béthoux — 2012-02-16T11:17:12Z

Sociologist Bénédicte Zimmerman's empirical studies of employer groups and participative management reveals how the tension that exists between the individual and the collective is being reshaped in today's flexible organizations. “Flexicurity” is not a mere word. And freedom at work is not just a matter of autonomy.

Challenging Family Rhythms

Christophe Giraud — 2010-12-29T12:13:59Z

Transformations of work disrupt family time. Relying on a rigorous statistical approach, Laurent Lesnard draws attention to the consequences produced in family life by the turmoil of atypical working hours. While his demonstration of this phenomenon is convincing, his interpretation of it is more questionable.