Books & ideas

Hayek: Theorist and Activist

Mounir Zakriti — 2025-02-27T07:30:00Z

Hayek always presented his reconstruction of liberalism as a utopia, based on the idea of a spontaneous, self-regulating social order, against the chimera of social justice.

The four paradigms of the European regulatory state

Samuel B.H. Faure — 2025-02-06T08:14:00Z

The “Europe of the market” has dominated European social and economic policy since 1945. Yet three other models have opposed the liberal paradigm: solidarity, neomercantilism, and ultra-liberalism.

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.

Damn neo-liberalism

Damien Larrouqué — 2023-06-27T07:49:00Z

Is neoliberalism essentially martial in nature? To show that it is, is the aim of a book co-written by four authors on both the historical experience of neo-liberalism and analysis of what are considered to be its founding texts. Though stimulating, the argument is not always convincing.

Why France Isn't (Completely) Neoliberal

Michael C. Behrent — 2022-06-29T07:01:00Z

While France would appear to have all the conditions required to become a neoliberal country like any other, neoliberalism's roots are much shallower in France than elsewhere. Kevin Brookes argues that the uniqueness of France's trajectory can be explained by the “high ideological cost” of justifying neoliberalism.

“Brains” and their “Servants”: the New Class Domination

Bruno Palier — 2020-06-25T07:00:00Z

Advanced capitalist democracies have undergone deep changes over the past thirty years, described by Torben Iversen as a transition to a knowledge-based economy. However, his account misses an aspect of class development: the emergence of a new proletariat, highly exploited in the knowledge economy.

Are Capitalist Democracies Really Resilient?

Cyril Benoit — 2020-06-18T07:00:00Z

For Torben Iversen, capitalism is not responsible for the crisis democracies are currently facing. After Jenny Andersson, Cyril Benoît underlines the limits of this optimistic interpretation.

Are Capitalist Democracies Really Resilient?

Jenny Andersson — 2020-06-17T07:00:00Z

For Torben Iversen, capitalism is not responsible for the crisis democracies are currently facing. Responding to this argument, Jenny Andersson underlines the limits of this optimistic interpretation.

Reinventing Capitalism

Torben Iversen — 2020-06-15T07:00:00Z

Should we blame capitalism for the challenges rich democracies have been facing over the past thirty years—from growing inequality to the rise of populism? According to Torben Iversen, the opposite is true: it was democracy that transformed capitalism to take full advantage of new technologies.

Neoliberalism à la française

Matthew Soener — 2020-02-03T08:00:00Z

From Mitterrand's “rigueur” to Hollande's “mandate,” Bruno Amable charts the transformation of French capitalism and reveals the making of a political crisis.