Documents All books
Marie Desplechin
The Class
Teenagers from a school in Lille speak out about their lives, joys and difficulties: Marie Desplechin has put together a fascinating book
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.
Raymond Aubrac
Where the memory lingers
Discreet by nature and secretive by necessity, Raymond Aubrac has been closely involved in more than half a century of history, in France and abroad. Within France, he is one of the great figures of the Resistance, and is one of the last survivors of the meeting at Caluire, on June 21st 1943, in the course of which Jean Moulin was arrested. A confidant of Ho Chi Minh, Raymond Aubrac also played a central role in the secret negotiations which accompanied the Vietnam war. In this book he gives a new, personal account of these events and others, including his meeting with de Gaulle, his role in the reconstruction of France, and his work at the heart of the UN.
Raymond Boudon
Why intellectual peoples don't like liberalism
Given the intellectual force of liberalism, its political appeal, its economic effectiveness and its historical significance, why is it so unpopular among French intellectuals? Why does it elicit so little serious discussion? And why is it the object of so much confusion, so many clichés and misunderstandings? Is it simply out of resentment, because intellectuals feel that the market does not afford them the material and symbolic rewards that they believe they deserve? Is it just because they prefer to play a critical role in a society where capitalism is triumphant? Perhaps, but these reasons do not explain everything and they certainly dont explain the systematic rejection of liberal thought in France. A sociologist of knowledge rather than of social determinism, and a specialist in belief systems, Raymond Boudon ruthlessly analyses the cognitive mechanisms that make liberalism so hateful in the eyes of French intellectuals. The result is a keen, detailed review of the clichés that have encumbered discussions for more than thirty years. Raymond Boudon, a professor at the University of Paris-IV, is a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. He us the author of numerous works, most notably LInégalité des chances, La logique du social, LIdéologie ou lorigine des idées reçues, LArt de se persuader, Le Sens des valeurs and Déclin de la morale? Déclin des valeurs. He is the co-author, with R. Leroux, of Y a-t-il encore une sociologie?
François Dalle
The L'Oréal Adventure
It is difficult to imagine that in 1948 L'Oréal was a small company operating mainly in France and in a few neighbouring countries. Over a period of 35 years, L'Oréal's annual revenue rose from $ 30 million to $ 3 billion. This book shows that money and classical management techniques played a minor role in L'Oréal's growth. For François Dalle the company's success can be explained by the wide acceptance by the staff to what he calls the "spirit of L'Oréal" : this is what enabled L'Oréal to diversify its activities, spread all over Europe, Japan and America and successfully manage the hard times of the 1970s and '80s. François Dalle managed L'Oréal from 1948, at first with Eugène Schueller, then as CEO, a position he held from 1957-1985.
Laurent Wauquiez
The struggle of the middle class
In the run-up to the French presidential elections, here are a series of proposals that offer the middle classes the future perspectives they deserve
Dominique Bourg
In Defence of an Ecological Sixth Republic
Proposals for a reform of the French Constitution in the run-up to the 2012 Presidential elections
Claudine Monteil
Simone de Beauvoir Today
The author evokes her long friendship with Simone de Beauvoir and offers a detailed portrayal of women’s lives today.
Françoise Héritier
Thought in motion
Based on a series of interviews, this book traces the career of a brilliant anthropologist, whose thinking enlightens and moves us
