Books & ideas

The Earth Mother vs. God the Father

Jean-Baptiste Vuillerod — 2025-06-26T06:30:00Z

Christianity is based on an egalitarian indifference to sexual difference, but in practice treats women very unequally. God the father has replaced the pagan idea of the Earth Mother, who celebrates humanity's shared belonging to Gaia.

Nero's Gang

Kevin Bouillot — 2025-02-13T10:16:00Z

In ancient times, mythological and historical criminals were not always inhuman. They show us that there is nothing universal about our self-evident truths, particularly when they concern such fundamental concepts as good and evil.

The Christian Origins of the Anthropocene

Rémi Beau — 2020-12-07T08:00:00Z

To understand the Anthropocene, historian Sylvain Piron invites us to explore the Middle Ages. Disconcerting in how it multiplies avenues of research, his book's strength and originality lies in the critical mobilization of the economy of the Scholastics

The History of Afterlives

Miri Rubin — 2019-10-17T07:00:00Z

Ambrose of Milan, fourth-century theologian, administrator, bishop and eventually saint Father of the Church, left his mark in the history of the Church and beyond. Patrick Boucheron explores his life and afterlives, in a dialogue between then and now, writing a history to live by.

The Birth of 'Race'

Vincent Vilmain — 2017-04-06T07:00:00Z

Retracing the genealogy of the idea of human ‘races', Claude-Olivier Doron returns to the role of the Enlightenment, and particularly Buffon, in the emergence of monogenistic racial thought. He examines how the idea of ‘race' and the affirmation of universalism appeared concomitantly.

Michel de Certeau

Andrés G. Freijomil — 2016-02-18T08:00:00Z

Michel de Certeau (1925-1986), whose works became classics in the humanities and social sciences due to his relentless effort to decompartmentalize knowledge, produced a unique oeuvre, in which his Christian faith inspired without limiting his historical and anthropological insights into contemporary culture.

Confess and Obey

Frédéric Gros — 2014-09-04T07:00:00Z

In the lecture delivered between January and March 1980, Michel Foucault, after completing his studies of “power-knowledge,” attached new importance to the subject—specifically, to a form of subjectivity experienced in the injunction to speak of oneself, to better submit onself to others.

The Three Ages of Conflict in Voluntary Associations

Axelle Brodiez-Dolino — 2012-03-08T09:50:27Z

The history of Emmaüs, a major movement against homelessness made famous by its charismatic leader, Abbot Pierre, is representative of postwar voluntary solidarity associations in France. By describing the stages of its development, Axelle Brodiez-Dolino proposes a typology of conflicts in the voluntary organizations sector.