Books & ideas

The Anarchism of Intellectuals

Cyril Legrand — 2024-11-21T09:00:00Z

Whether conceived as advocacy of disorder or as “the highest expression of order,” as the abolition of the state or as state-led deregulation, anarchy feeds on every ambiguity. This is the case even in contemporary philosophy.

What is a French Philosopher?

Florent Guénard — 2016-03-31T07:00:00Z

The recent publication of the Dictionnaire des philosophes français du XVIIe siècle, seven years after a renowned English first edition, gives its readers the opportunity to question the knowledge of the Grand Siècle, reputed as classical but actually quite baroque at its core. It further addresses the important question of how to define a French philosopher in the 17^th century.

World War I: Intellectuals and Enlisted Men

Stéphane Tison — 2014-11-10T09:06:00Z

Did French soldiers really experience a union sacrée (“sacred union”) in the trenches of the First World War, or did intellectuals simply erase their memories of the social distinctions they encountered at the front? Through an analysis of intellectuals' discourse about other social classes, Nicolas Mariot revisits the myth of the Great War as a patriotic melting pot—an analysis which merits further exploration, on the eve of the First Armistice's anniversary.

Reform in China: Sluggish or Dynamic?

Émilie Frenkiel — 2013-10-11T07:16:34Z

Lucien Bianco is a historian of Chinese peasantry and the author of Origins of the Chinese Revolution, 1915-1949. In this interview for Books&Ideas, he draws a mixed portrait of the changes undergone by China for a couple of decades, and mentions the ‘de-Maoization process', the single child policy, the ‘new socialist countryside', as well as the elitiste discourse of Chinese intellectuals.

From Scholar to Official

Émilie Frenkiel — 2010-12-06T09:31:19Z

An interview with a Chinese political scientist trained in American universities gives us an insight into China's pragmatic policy of local experimentation. It chronicles how officials in the municipality of Chongqing have seized the opportunity offered by its special status to launch a unique blend of liberal and socialist economic policy.