Books & ideas

Social sciences in the face of disorder

Marielle Debos — 2022-01-06T13:35:31Z

How can social sciences think through the constitutive disorder of a society? When groups marked by “bad reputation” refuse to be an object of knowledge, how can we write about them? This is the challenge presented to researchers by the Tubu of Chad.

Summer Reading

Editorial Team — 2021-07-26T07:00:00Z

Summer is here; Books&Ideas is off on holiday. We will be back with new publications starting August 30. In the meantime, here is a selection of essays, interviews and reviews published over the past year.

Why Central Bankers Should Read Economic History

Éric Monnet — 2021-02-08T08:00:00Z

How can economic policy-makers use economic history as a guide for their deliberations and decisions? Focusing on the case of central banking, this essay argues that the virtue of history is not only to improve economic models and quantitative studies, but to provide a perspective distinct from standard economic reasoning.

Against Hereditary Rights

Rafe Blaufarb — 2020-09-21T07:00:00Z

How did the French Revolution, after abolishing privilege, also become the foundation of modern inequality? Thomas Piketty's latest book focuses on the evolving ideological constructions of property across the ages and offers ways to solve the problem of inequality without challenging to the individual right to private property.

Fortunetellers and Teahouse Workers

Di Wang — 2020-04-09T07:00:00Z

Is there a better way than drinking tea and chatting in a local teahouse to get a sense of everyday life in Sichuan's capital city? A historian of Chengdu and tea culture explains the role of teahouses in public life and the business opportunities they offer to migrant workers.

William Thompson, a Pioneer of European Socialism

Caroline Gomes — 2019-12-05T08:00:00Z

An Irish landowner, economist, philosopher and defender of women's rights, William Thompson was one of the greatest Socialist figures before Marx. Nowadays neglected, his thought nevertheless has many echoes with important contemporary debates, from the critique of capitalism to the rise of feminism.

Kara Walker's Fons Americanus at Tate Modern

Vanina Géré — 2019-10-10T07:00:00Z

Visual artist Kara Walker's Fons Americanus is this year's commissioned work for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern. While addressing the current debates regarding memorials, it goes beyond a mere rewriting or righting of history.

Summertime, and Reading Is Easy

Editorial Team — 2019-08-12T07:00:00Z

Books & Ideas is going on holiday for the summer. We will be back with new publications starting August 26^th. In the meantime, here is a selection of essays, interviews and reviews published over the past year.

Injustices That Will Not Pass

Magali Bessone — 2019-02-21T06:00:00Z

How can we think about our responsibility in the face of past crimes whose consequences continue to weigh on the living conditions of their victims or descendants? One first step, for the philosopher Catherine Lu, would be to acknowledge and theorise the colonial roots of our world order.

The Lost World of Wood Runners

Paul Mapp — 2018-12-06T07:00:00Z

“Wood runners” is the name given to travelling fur traders in the age of pioneers. Focusing on two centuries of their risky adventures and on their relationship with Amerindian populations allows Gilles Havard to write a monumental multicultural history of the early North American West.