Books & ideas

The Liberals' Cold War

Thomas Charrayre — 2025-01-07T08:00:00Z

Cold War liberalism is hardly discussed in France, even though its theoretical importance should not be overlooked: its attacks on the welfare state have notably fostered neoconservatism.

Ideologues and Cassandras: the Thinkers behind Putinism

Michel Eltchaninoff — 2015-11-02T08:27:25Z

What lies beneath Putinism? Taking a look at Russia's history and culture, Michel Eltchaninoff shows that the success of Vladimir Putin's anti-Western rhetoric, though drawn partly from pre-Revolutionary thought, is as much the result of the post-war Soviet Union's strong nationalist streak that continues to shape Russian society.

The Putin Doctrine

Florent Guénard — 2015-06-01T09:15:43Z

Putin is anti-modern, conservative and expansionist. He is convinced that the Western world in general and Europe in particular are decadent, and advocates a “Russian way”, which he views as an alternative political and social model. Michel Eltchaninoff has analysed this doctrine for us.

Homophobia in the United States

Jennifer Merchant — 2012-11-05T11:59:47Z

What links the American conservative Christian movement to homophobia? Anchoring his analysis in the texts published by the Christian organization Focus on the Family, Ludger H. Viefhues-Bailey explores the discourse of contemporary Christian conservatism, distinguishing between political agenda and religious doctrine.

American Elections: The Conservative Temptation

Thomas Grillot & Pauline Peretz — 2012-10-22T05:57:45Z

Our Books and Ideas dossier on the American presidential elections will make no forecasts - instead it will look back on four years of Democratic leadership at the White House and four years of right-wing radicalization inside and outside of the G.O.P. Whoever wins will have to deal with the Tea Party, and the record shows it will not be easy for anyone.

Italy: The Temptation of Revisionism

Fabrice Jesné & Simon Sarlin — 2012-06-02T08:22:43Z

As Italy celebrated the 150^th anniversary of its unification, revisionist historians radically challenged the standard history of unification and its consequences. This offensive, backed by certain politicians, spared none of the important moments of Italian history. Might this be the sign of a more far-reaching crisis in the national narrative?

Is There a Dictatorship in the E.U.?

Andrew Arato — 2012-05-11T09:01:30Z

The Orban government has enacted sweeping changes that have raised the specter of autocracy in Hungary: is the European Union about to have a dictatorship among its member states? For Andrew Arato, even enemies of the new regime should recognize that it is still only a demokradura, a hard democracy: only then will they be able to go back on the current reforms.

From Revolution to Restoration ?

Samuel Moyn — 2008-06-06T08:07:30Z

If there was no such thing as a pensée 68, was there – is there — a pensée anti-68? Eye-opening as his collection of soundings is, Serge Audier's book stands, or falls, on its thesis that he is studying an interlocking restauration intellectuelle — that the various oppositions to May 1968 add up to a general tendency.