It’s summer: The Life of Ideas will resume its publication schedule from August 22 and in the meantime offers you an anthology of texts and interviews published in the last six months.
– Politics and religion in ancient Rome, by John Scheid (06-28-2011)
In Rome, the state did not interfere in the private religious lives of citizens, even though the gods were part of the community and lived among them. And the Roman religion accepts the plurality of approaches as long as transcendence is not imposed on it. In this essay, John Scheid restores to Roman religion its immanent and physical content.
– Journalism “ hacker », by Sylvain Parasie (21-06-2011)
This article explains why and how self-taught programmers, web entrepreneurs, web project managers, programmers engaged in free software communities or free software activistsopen data come to be interested in journalism even though the economic situation of the press is more than worrying everywhere.
– The value of equality, by Jean-Fabien Spitz (14-06-2011)
Should we give up defending equality, under the pretext that it is not achievable? ? The left is tempted to do so, to the extent that it confuses, as has been shown GA Cohen, what is right and what is possible. To claim to inspire action and the desire for reform, political reflection must not renounce the ideal or the utopia.
– The Ibero-American primer of political modernity, by Jeanne Moisand & Gabriel Entin (10-06-2011)
In this interview Javier Fernández Sebastián presents the Ibero-American world as another political laboratory of modernity in the Age of Revolutions, based on the analysis of the history of concepts in the Hispanic and Portuguese-speaking Atlantic.
– The direct democracy of Puerta del Sol, by Eva Botella-Ordinas (24-05-2011)
Why are the Spanish mobilizing by occupying the squares of big cities ? In this text written on the spot, a historian of political thought opens the debate. It shows that the 15M movement draws on the experience of autonomous democratic practices put in place by self-managed social centers. It also signals the growing gap, within the Spanish left, between two visions of republicanism and democratic participation.
– The long history of Spanish democracy, by Florencia Peyrou (24-05-2011)
Current mobilizations for a “ true democracy » in Spain are they anchored in a democratic culture that is older than it seems ? Florencia Peyrou looks back on the history of Spanish republicanism: she compares it to other European radical and republican movements, and shows at the same time its radicality, its contributions and its contradictions.
– Lessons from the disaster, by Jean-Baptiste Fressoz (05-13-2011)
The more disasters are repeated, the less we seem able to learn from them. Our faith in progress and our concern for economic profitability are such that, contrary to what postmodern discourse claims, we have not emerged from the illusions of modernity.
– Rediscovering the meaning of social life, by Nicolas Duvoux, Elise Tenret & Nadège Vezinat
In this interview, Michèle Lamont discusses different facets of her intellectual work, her relationship with France and its sociologists, and her life as an academic in the United States. She returns to the cultural sociology that she practices and to her dual desire to understand how individuals give meaning to their lives and to give meaning to sociology.
– Words, words, words. Language and civilization, by Isabelle Delpla (12-05-2011)
Social reality, John Searle asserts, exists only through our speech acts. Our declarations bring a world into existence, just as the priest or the mayor brings husband and wife into existence by pronouncing marriage. This hypothesis allows us to reconsider major philosophical problems, such as the status of freedom, human rights and power in democracy.
– Obama philosopher, by Michael C. Behrent (10-05-2011)
Historian James Kloppenberg proposes to include Obama in the pantheon of American political thinkers. His predilection for conciliation and overcoming partisan divisions would be anchored in an original reading of American communitarianism and pragmatism. To see Obama only as a philosopher is to forget the man of power.
– Capitalism, between constraint and consent, by Franck Fischbach (02-05-2011)
How can Marx and Spinoza still help us to think about servitude in current capitalism? ? By injecting affective logics into the analysis of salaried work, responds Frédéric Lordon, who thus intends to renew, even challenge, the concept of alienation.
– The story of the world, by Jacques Revel (26-04-2011)
Starting from a comparison between Asia and Europe, the anthropologist Jack Goody denounces what he calls the “ flight of history “. He criticizes Elias, Braudel and Needham for having reinforced the grand narrative which makes the historical experience of Europe both an exception and the measure of the history of the rest of the world. This criticism is useful and legitimate, according to Jacques Revel, but is based on judgments that are sometimes just as globalizing as those it intends to contradict.
– Finance, a factor of inequality, by Olivier Godechot (04-15-2011)
This study shows that, contrary to popular belief, CEO and sports or entertainment superstars are not primarily responsible for increasing inequalities. It is the evolution of the remuneration of finance executives which has in fact contributed the most to this phenomenon.
– Secularism and state feminism: the Tunisian trompe-l’oeil, by Augustin Jomier (04-12-2011).
For a long time, the Tunisian state prided itself on defending secularism and women’s rights: this smokescreen concealed the regime’s abuses and justified the complacency of the French political class. A clarification is necessary at a time when the jasmine revolution opens the way to a legislative and institutional revision.
– The cult of humanitarianism, by Dominique Vidal (30-03-2011)
Didier Fassin seeks to define what he calls “ humanitarian government » based on surveys carried out among those who claim to take responsibility for social suffering. Although he describes the unequal dimension of humanitarian logic, he does not place it in the context of the collapse of communism.
– Societies sick of their school ?, by Philippe Coulangeon (08-03-2011)
Through wide-ranging comparative work, Dubet, Duru-Bellat and Vérétout establish a relationship between societies and their school systems. They denounce the undesirable effects of the ideology of merit and the weight of the diploma on the destinies of individuals. The detour through international comparison, which salutarily shakes up the taboos of the republican school, also makes certain conclusions questionable.
– Why the British trust their police, by Ben Bradford & Jonathan Jackson (01-03-2011)
How can we explain the high degree of trust and legitimacy enjoyed by the bobby across the Channel ? In this remarkable review article, two sociologists show that the ability of the police to inspire confidence is both a guarantee of their acceptance and their effectiveness. Converselya police force that scares deprives itself of the participation of citizens in the production of social order.
– Being and neon, by Catherine De Smet (28-02-2011)
Take an everyday object, explain its method of manufacture and uses, bring back from the archives some emblematic characters of its history, and you will have a book of historical anthropology attentive to a “ micro device » of writing – the neon signs – which illuminate an entire world, always alive.
– I have two moms, by Jennifer Merchant (24-02-2011)
An unprecedented sociological survey in France studies the adaptation of lesbian mothers to the dominant heterosexual norm and the new forms of family life that they invent through their daily lives. A social fact with regard to which the law is today at odds.
– Bookworms, by Vincent Chabault (02-17-2011)
Two sociologists show, through an ethnographic survey of the Mirail university library, that the bookworm covers various species. In the BUs, researchers and other polards rub shoulders with other types of users: Internet users, “ tourists “, “ stowaways “…
– Rise and decline of alternative spaces, by Cristelle Terroni (02/15/2011).
Born from spontaneous initiatives in the 1970s, New York’s alternative spaces claim the aesthetic of the slum, inherited from their precariousness, in opposition to the established and commercial art world. Since then, these artistic avant-garde places have tended to disappear or to integrate institutional structures.
– The social utility of the humanities, by Solange Chavel (02-14-2011)
Is humanities education a luxury that our societies can no longer afford? ? Martha Nussbaum responds that on the contrary, in a world of globalized economic competition, the humanities have a social and political interest.
– Bioethics: who should decide ?, by Ariane Poulantzas & Pascal Sévérac (11-02-2011)
For Ruwen Ogien, calls for “ human dignity “, has “ the best interests of the child “, to the “ potential person ”, are just clouds of smoke intended to mask the discriminatory conservatism of bioethics legislation. Rejecting any paternalism, the philosopher recommends handing over the decision to the people concerned, outside of any state or medical control.
– Suicides, Islam and politics, by Dominique Avon (01-02-2011)
The revolts shaking the Maghreb were triggered by waves of suicides which greatly embarrassed the Muslim authorities. Are these phenomena an indication of a secularization of societies, or even a radical transgression of the Koranic prohibition? ?
– A model of liberal socialism in China, by Emilie Frenkiel (25-01-2011)
This interview with a Chinese political scientist graduated from the University of Chicago offers an overview of China’s policy of local experimentation through the experience of Chongqing. Cui Zhiyuan explains how the city’s social policy combines with the market economy by relying on the profits of state-owned enterprises.
– Who are the French deputies of the Ve Republic ?, by Abel François & Emiliano Grossman (21-01-2011)
What is the population of French deputies since the beginning of the Fifth Republic? ? Through a statistical analysis of the composition of the 13 legislatures, A. François and E. Grossman draw up a portrait of the French deputy and follow the evolution of the residents of the National Assembly. It appears that the socio-professional structure is particularly stable.
– Neighborhoods and cultural differences, by Michel Kokoreff (11-01-2011)
The sociologist Michel Kokoreff returns to the controversy sparked by the work of Hugues Lagrange, The denial of cultures. He invites us not to obscure the substance of the debate, and analyzes the theses of the book in detail before submitting them for discussion.
– Power is becoming more and more learned, by Nicolas Duvoux (04-01-2011)
Sociologist Luc Boltanski looks back on his two most recent publications: Making reality unacceptable And From criticism. After situating these works in his intellectual trajectory, the interview proceeds to an explanation of the central concepts of From criticism then evokes avenues for renewing criticism at a historical moment which is that of the apogee of capitalism and the State but also of their crisis and the crisis of their relationship.
You can also take advantage of the summer to browse the English version of The life of ideas : Books & Ideas.