Catalog All books
Pierre Sudreau
Beyond All Frontiers (New Edition)
At the moment when former barriers are crumbling, but old hates and fears are re-emerging, Pierre Sudreau mixes historical tale, political thought and insightful meditation while inviting us to define a new morality of humanity. Deported to Buchenwald, Pierre Sudreau was a police chief at the time of the Libération, and later served as the Director of the Ministry of the Interior. He was a Minister under Charles de Gaulle, and resigned in 1962 at the time of the Constitutional reform. In 1974, he was the author of a celebrated report about business reform.
Marc Ferro
The Clash of Islam 18th to 21st Century
Faced with the expansion of the Western world over the last centuries, the Islamic world has adopted several different attitudes. Some parts of it have chosen to modernise in order to regenerate and better resist the West. Others have chosen instead to de-Islamise their societies, and to succumb to the temptation of the West in order to modernise. More recently, others have taken the opposite tack and islamised modernity, an openly aggressive choice. Marc Ferro's historical study of the great Islamic empires and their collapse examines the present situation of a divided Muslim world and a disoriented West. Marc Ferro is an honorary director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.
Régis Debray
The Teaching of Religion in State Schools
French public opinion largely approves the idea of reinforcing the study of religion from a cultural perspective in state schools. The intention is not to put God back into the school system. Religious traditions and the future of the humanities now share a common fate, and strengthening religious education will depend on strengthening education as such. The spirit of secularism should have nothing to fear." Régis Debray Régis Debray teaches philosophy.
Françoise Benhamou
The Star-System Economy
We live in an age that spends fortunes on its stars. But why do we get the impression that the fees that stars receive and their popularity correspond less and less to their talent? Why does stardom seem to have so little to do with creativity and quality? Françoise Benhamou is an economist.
Georges Charpak, Henri Broch
Becoming a Magician is Becoming Wise
Would you like to know how to burn out a light bulb from afar? Would you like to know how to walk barefoot on burning coals without scorching your feet and as comfortably as if you were walking on the softest deep-pile rug? And would you like to understand why this is possible? Magic here has simply switched sides: it no longer belongs to the realm of the supernatural; it has become completely natural.The goal of this book is to make the reader understand that the supernatural does not exist and that it is essential in todays world to be scientifically literate. Georges Charpak, a physicist at CERN, is a winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics. Henri Broch heads the Laboratoire de Zététique at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis.
Roger-Pol Droit
The Company of Contemporaries
In this book, Droit reviews the works of some major contemporary thinkers: Bourdieu, Foucault, Girard, Habermas, Lévi-Strauss, Serres, and Vernant, among others. The interviews included here allow the reader to encounter biologists and sociologists, as well as anthropologists and psychoanalysts. Philosophers are well represented, but all the humanities have been included, and practically all major contemporary issues are considered, from bio-ethics to the end of history, from the construction of Europe to the rise of violence, from globalisation to the environment, from the development of science to political and religious extremism. Roger-Pol Droit is a philosopher and researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Jean-Pierre Kahane
The Teaching of Mathematical Sciences
What should be the goals and the contents of the mathematics syllabus from primary school to university? What changes should be undertaken to accompany and prepare for future developments in science and technology? And how should the initial training, competitive recruitment and further education of maths teachers evolve and develop? This book is the fruit of several months work by a committee, presided by the mathematician Jean-Pierre Kahane, on the future of the teaching of mathematics.
Pierre Khalifa
How to be Well Treated
"The goal of this book is to answer some of the many questions that are asked about patient-doctor relations and healthcare. How should we go about choosing the doctor in whom we will entrust our health? How can we contribute to make our consultation more effective, in order to help our doctor make a better diagnosis and find the most appropriate solutions? And when should we put an end to the relationship of trust with our doctor?" Pierre Khalifa Pierre Khalifa, a specialist in internal medicine, has worked as a house doctor in Parisian hospitals and was formerly a clinical director at the Hôpital Cochin, in Paris.
Jacques Cantier
Algeria Under the Vichy Regime
On 25 June 1940, both the Franco-German and Franco-Italian Armistice came into effect. In Algeria, appeals to carry on the struggle in Frances colonial empire no longer served any purpose. The Vichy regime, which came into existence following the parliamentary vote of 10 July 1940, was thus able to extend its rule over Algeria. Claiming to be at the head of a National Revolution which would create a new Man and fight against the forces of Anti-France, the Vichy government was able to flourish until the Anglo-American landings in North Africa in 1942. The author has given us a thorough review of this little-known period. This is not just a historical parenthesis as the study of the consequences of the National Revolution in Frances colonies casts a new light on the discussion about the nature and actions of the Vichy regime. It also illuminates a frequently concealed stage in the development of colonial society, which had had to confront a growing number of internal difficulties since the 1930s. Jacques Cantier is a lecturer at the University of Toulouse-Le-Mirail.
Michel Schneider
Big Mother The Psychopathology of Political Life
Listening, closeness, emergencies, love - politicians today play up to the mother. Leaders dare not lead, the citizens are now so child-like that they simply wait to be told what to do by the State : the Leisure State behaves like those mothers who cannot stand to think that their children can play by themselves, and insist on keeping them busy. Where are the fathers ? Is this the end of the paternal reference and the symbolic order of things ? A psychoanalyst, Michel Schneider was formerly a director of music and dance at the Ministry of Culture.
Yves Michaud
Changes in Violence An Essay on Universal Goodwill and Fear
For better or for worse, violence has accompanied humanity throughout its history. It is consubstantial with history, technical knowledge and even culture, and it is unlikely that it will disappear. Human beings are inhabited by darkness great darkness and they must have the courage to confront it. Then why are we so frightened and shocked by each flare-up of violence on the international stage and in our own streets? We feel that there is both more and less violence; that life on our planet has become easier and yet more ruthless; that although benevolence is the universal law, hate is equally strong, if not stronger; that feeling safe may be a right but that fear reigns. Yves Michaud, a philosopher, teaches at the University of Paris-I.
Jean-Baptiste de Foucauld
The 3 Cultures of Human Development Resistance, Regulation, Utopia
Today, economic growth has taken off again, creating jobs and making full employment a feasible goal. And yet, at a time when we seem to be at the brink of a new recession, nothing seems to have really changed. Modernisation may exclude fewer members of our society than had been previously feared, but, if we are not careful, their exclusion will be all the greater. It is no longer possible to retain a soft procedural approach to democracy. Democracy needs to return to its origins; it must be given a goal, based on a strong vision of humanity and of humanity as part of society. It is necessary to construct human development along the lines of three political and spiritual cultures which represent our common heritage : resistance, regulation and utopia. Jean-Baptiste de Foucauld is a senior official in the French Treasury. Until 1995 he was a commissioner of Frances economic plan. He is active in numerous think-tanks and associations that struggle against social exclusion and unemployment.
Christine Mirabel-Sarron
How to Overcome Depression
How can depression be overcome? And how can someone suffering from depression recover a sense of well-being, self-esteem and joy? How can chronic fatigue be vanquished? During the past few years, both the diagnosis and treatment of depression have greatly evolved, and even if depression remains a complex illness, effective treatment is now available. The advice given in this book depends on the active participation of victims of depression. It is by learning to know themselves, by understanding what is happening to them, and by becoming less vulnerable that they will overcome their depression. Christine Mirabel-Sarron is a psychiatrist and physician at Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris.
