La Vie des Idées is on vacation. We will resume our publications on Monday, August 27. In the meantime, here is a selection of texts and interviews published this year.
The tests
The Revenge of the Villages by Éric Charmes, October 24, 2017
Contrasting the wealth of cities with the poverty of the countryside is in fact a failure to understand the reality of territorial inequalities. Villages are today often more attractive than a large number of medium-sized towns, which are experiencing major demographic and economic difficulties.
Cow Terrorism by Mathieu Ferry, November 17, 2017
The sacredness of the cow and the religious prohibition on beef consumption have always been, since their late invention in the medieval period, powerful drivers of the federation of the Hindu community. They continue today to be instrumentalized by the nationalist extreme right, as evidenced by the wave of lynchings that is hitting the country.
Integrity in small steps by Pierre Lascoumes, December 12, 2017
Passed urgently in September, will the laws on the moralisation of political life succeed in restoring the confidence of the French in their elected representatives? For Pierre Lascoumes, they are above all a missed opportunity for a thorough cleaning up of political practices.
Turkey’s Hunt for Intellectuals by Ahmet Insel, December 22, 2017
The failed coup of July 2016 provided the Turkish authorities with the opportunity for a gigantic counter-coup. Will the regime of Tayyip Erdoğan, which is seeking to bring large sectors of civil society into line, succeed in winning its cultural war against the university?
Should we liberalize the SNCF ? by Jean Finez and Laurent Quessette, March 22, 2018
The announced reforms of the SNCF point out, once again, its debt and the status of railway workers. But is the problem well posed? A look back at the history of a debate and its political issues.
Mary Douglas, a certain taste for hierarchy by François Buton and Eric Soriano, May 22, 2018
Little known in France, the work of anthropologist Mary Douglas is nevertheless fundamental for thinking about the elementary forms of social organization and daily life. By revealing her academic and personal trajectory, this portrait rehabilitates the thinking of a great intellectual.
An almost perfect baby by Jean-Hugues Déchaux, June 5, 2018
The genetic revolution is notably marked by complex mutations in reproductive techniques. From our relationship to motherhood to the idea of a “eugenics of free choice”, Jean-Hugues Déchaux returns to the ethical controversies surrounding genetic engineering.
The interviews
When will the flood come? Interview with Magali Reghezza
by Kristel Chanard and Mélanie Cournil, March 12, 2018
With each new flood of the Seine, the specter of that of 1910 comes to haunt our minds. What impact could the next much-feared centennial flood have? And what can we do to prepare for it?
A counter-history of May 68, Interview with Julie Pagis
by Nicolas Duvoux & Jules Naudet, May 21, 2018
What does the study of those who took part in May 68 reveal to us? According to Julie Pagis, it shows that political experiences were diverse, that those who got involved had different profiles and that these events allow us to better understand today’s social struggles.
The reviews
Fragile as a matsutake by Clotilde Riotor and Cyprien Tasset, February 9, 2018
About: Anna Tsing, The Mushroom of the End of the World. On the Possibility of Living in the Ruins of CapitalismThe Discovery
Providential Men by Nicolas DuvouxJanuary 30, 2018
About: Rob Reich, Chiara Cordelli, Lucy Bernholz (dir.), Philanthropy in Democratic Societies: History, Institutions, ValuesThe University of Chicago Press
The Spinoza Affair by Steven Nadler, January 24, 2018
About: Maxime Rovere, The Spinoza clanFlammarion
The Loss of Nationality under Pétain by Clifford Rosenberg, January 11, 2018
About: Claire Zalc, Denaturalized. Nationality withdrawals under VichyThreshold
The ideology of modernity by Stéphane Haber, February 28, 2018
About: Marcel Gauchet, The Advent of Democracy, IV : The New WorldGallimard
Literature for what purpose? by Judith Lyon-Caen, May 25, 2018
About: Florent Coste, Explore. Literary InvestigationsTheoretical questions
The Name of the Crime by Pauline Peretz, May 28, 2018
About: Annette Becker, Messengers of Disaster. Raphael Lemkin, Jan Karski and GenocidesFayard