Books & Ideas is the English-language mirror website of La Vie des Idées, a free online journal which has gained a large readership and established itself in France as a major place for intellectual debate since 2007.
Can mysticism be a philosophical tool? Yes, provided one understands it philosophically as an experience that leads to morality and universal love.
Sandra Ristovska examines how images shape judicial reasoning and the new uncertainties introduced by AI and deepfakes. These technologies amplify longstanding problems of evidence, interpretation, and inequality before the law.
The French government’s approach to religious pluralism cannot be easily summarized, given its diversity and complexity, as well as its dependence on the contingencies of politics.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war in East Asia, a nuanced assessment of the American occupation of Japan (1945–1952) and its lasting impact on contemporary Japanese society is now available in French for the first time.
About: Dominique Lagorgette, Pute. Histoire d’un mot et d’un stigmate, La Découverte
About: Pierre Serna, La Révolution oubliée. Orléans, 1789-1820, CNRS Éditions
About: David Copello, Les droits humains armés. Guérillas, dictatures et démocratie en Argentine, Presses universitaires de Rennes
The female silhouette – understood as the body’s visible form and socially perceived appearance – has long been shaped by social norms. In the age of social media, these norms are intensifying, prompting, in response, the rise of so-called “body-positive” movements.
A rumour is circulating in some African countries: the French state is organising penis thefts to offset declining fertility. The rumour, spread by Russian propaganda, has become fake news.
The American sociologist Harrison White made a vital contribution to the development of social network analysis. Besides his work in this field, his theoretical synthesis and his understanding of social formations have influenced a variety of fields such as the sociology of art and economic sociology.
Books & Ideas is slowing down for the summer and will be offering weekly selections of reviews and essays published over the last year. This week’s selection questions the relationship between gender and politics.
In this virtual roundtable published in partnership with Public Books, four participants from France, Germany and the US re-visit the inequalities debate sparked by Thomas Piketty’s Capital, comparing perceptions of income, economic equality and political economy.
Summer is here. Books&Ideas is off on holiday. We will be back with new publications starting August 29th. In the meantime, here is a selection of essays, interviews and reviews published over the past year.
Though poorly known in France, the work of the anthropologist Mary Douglas is nonetheless essential for understanding the elementary forms of social organization and daily life. By shedding light on her academic career and personal life, this portrait rehabilitates the thought of a major intellectual.
Rediscovering an activist thinker who was at the origins of eco-feminism, but remains unknown. Her work inspired an extremely heterogeneous movement, but has her ambition to concretely transform the social, economic and political organisation of society been pursued?
Dès les années 1970, l’historienne Anne-Marie Sohn s’est intéressée aux rôles féminins dans la vie privée. Le genre est utile si l’on prend en compte sa dimension matérielle, croisée avec les rapports sociaux de classe, ainsi que sa dimension relationnelle, en lien avec les masculinités
Le caméléon, comme de juste, a suscité des types d’écriture variés : celle des savants naturalistes, celle des moralistes et, enfin, celle des curieux qui rassemble et dépasse les deux autres.
L’essayiste Joseph Andras propose de “relever” l’idéal socialiste, mis à terre par les dérives révolutionnaires, en s’appuyant sur les grandes figures qui l’ont élaboré et défendu contre les abus du fanatisme.
À propos de : Ludovic Halbert, Félix Adisson, Francesca Artioli et Nicolas Maisetti, La ville verte au pied du mur, Presses de Sciences Po
À propos de : Alex Blanchette, Porkopolis : La vie standardisée à l’ère des fermes-usines, Editions Amsterdam
À propos de : Elara Bertho, Conakry, une utopie panafricaine. Récits et contre-récits 1958-1984, CNRS Éditions
