Human Sciences All books
Jean-Louis André
At the Heart of Urbanity
What should be done about neglected suburbs, the bedroom towns, dehumanized, and deregulated ? When we are faced with buildings in ruins, with wasteland and concrete deserts ? The answer is to stop trying to fix the obvious defects of these surburbs and instead concentrate on the heart of the town, in the common space, which must take on the changes made and symbolise an identity. Jean-Louis André, graduate of the Ecole normale supérieure, is a journalist. He has notably published with Ricardo Bofill, The Spaces of A Life.
Pascal Lamy, Jean-Michel Baer, Nicole Gnesotto
where is the world going? Two views of the world and of globalization
Fascinating and accessible analyses to better understand today’s world and its upheavals...
Gilbert Cette, Jacques Barthélémy
Reconstructing Social Law to Reform How the Labour Market Functions
French social law, and particularly labour law, is characterised by an excess of rules and regulations that hinder economic growth and job creation. In this respect, France is an exception among European nations.
Gilbert Cette, Jacques Barthélémy
Work and Technological Changes From the Civilization of Factories to That of the Digital
Recent mutations in the world of work are an opportunity to seize in order to adapt the law to the most unprecedented situations.
Michel Laguës
Water in Daily Life
With the aid of this book, readers will be able to understand some of the most complex and profound ideas of contemporary physics simply by observing water in their daily lives. Michel Laguës is a research director at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Daniel Sibony
The Quran and the Bible In questions and answers
A step-by-step study of the Quran, almost exactly word for word, to grasp the precise content. A polemical book, but a book based upon the author's knowledge of the Arabic language and the sacred texts of Islam. A return to the original text that allows us to understand the political and geopolitical issues of today's world.
Alain Bentolila
Language Against Barbarism Teaching Our Children to Live Together
Mastering language skills is crucial to a childs academic and social future. Children who know how to speak, read and write not only know how to think for themselves, they also know how to think with others, to accept them, and to find their own place in society.
Julien Damon
Cities to Live In
Complementing and mirroring the views of these urban residents are a series of studies by experts...
Claude Allègre, Patrick Artus, Jean-Louis Borloo, Yves Cochet, Vincent Courtillot, Jean Jouzel, Jacques Le Cacheux
Ecological quarrels and political choices
Polemics over global warming, the security of nuclear power plants after Fukushima, the depletion of reserves of non-renewable raw materials continue to fuel public concern without succeeding in establishing shared objective representations...
Patrick Fridenson, Bénédicte Reynaud
France and the Age of Work (1814-2004)
In this history about working hours in France during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the authors present two highly original theses which go against some established ideas. Their first thesis is that the limitation or reduction of labour hours was not a political, social or economic issue but primarily a question of public health. The authors second thesis is that the movement for shorter hours was never a major demand of the trade unions since absenteeism served to regulate working hours but the policy of national and international institutions. This is a history book which responds to an impassioned issue in recent French political events. Patrick Fridenson is a historian. Bénédicte Reynaud is an economist.
Sylvie Cadolle
Being a Step-parent The Recomposition of the Family
More than one million children in France live permanently or occasionally with a step-parent. What place does a step-parent hold in the family of a child whose parents are divorced or separated? What role does he or she play? Is it sufficient to know how to love in order to succeed in reconstructing a family? This is the first French investigation into the relations between step-parents and step-children that allows both the adults and the children to freely express themselves. Sylvie Cadolle teaches philosophy and educational sociology.
Antoine Garapon
Crimes Which Can Neither be Punished Nor Forgiven Towards an International Justice
The creation of a system of international criminal justice was one of the greatest political upheavals of recent decades. The fact that international criminal law has been allowed to question national sovereignty is a revolution in itself. The detractors of international justice contend that it is simply the justice of the victors. Could they be right? Have law and ethics been muddled? Have the trials conducted in its name helped heal the victims? Can justice prevent civil war? A former magistrate, Antoine Garapon heads the Institut des hautes études sur la justice.
Frank Dangeard
Crisis Decision-Making in Businesses 12 Tales of Governance
Based on his extensive experience as a manager and administrator, and illustrated with numerous examples from recent business history...
Robert Boyer
General Theory of Capitalism is it possible?
Robert Boyer is a leading figure of the regulationist school of economics, which believes that capitalism requires external, political, monetary and social regulations, and that the capitalist economy cannot be reduced to the self-regulating laws of the market. In this book, he proposes a general theory of capitalism, from two angles. First of all, he argues that there are several models of capitalism - not just one. America's ultra-liberal capitalism is unlike German capitalism, which is characterised by the fusion between banks and businesses, just as it is unlike French state-interventionist capitalism and Japan's capitalism of consensus. Secondly, in order to understand how capitalism works, every aspect has to be considered - not just the market but also political and social institutions (the State, central banks, unions, etc.) and the conventions they create among themselves (salary agreements, etc.). Robert Boyer is a research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, a director of studies at the Ecole des Haute Etudes en Sciences Sociales and a member of the French prime minister's Council for Economic Analysis.
Antoine Garapon
The Guardian of Promises Justice and Democracy
The multiplying cases, the explosion of litigations, the sensational trials which catch the attention of the public : all are evidence of a growth in power of the judicial system, which we expect to be, at the same time, the arbiter of morals, the guarantee of public morality and responsible for the salvation of the people. But why dont we ask what things it cannot provide ? Isnt the idea of a judicial democracy just an illusion, which serves to hide serious problems ? The power of the judicial system is more worrying than exciting. It is an indicator of the discreditation of the State at the same time as a reduction in social cohesion. In the face of the fragility of democratic society, this book is a thorough reflection on the exercise of public power, affirming that the real role of the judge is not to take the place of the politic, but to diffuse the risk of democratic implosion by remaining the guardian of the promises at the very heart of republican laws. Antoine Garapon, a former judge and member of the editorial team of the journal Esprit, is the head of the Institute of Advanced Judicial Studies.
Jean-Paul Betbèze
French people's economic fear
France has economic possibilities, but it remains blocked in several areas. Although the country's leaders are aware of this, they seem unable to make the necessary reforms to move forward. France seems to be the prey of fears that paralyse it, but which have benefited a new class of economic as well as social rentiers who constitute a powerful economic, ideological and political group. These new rentiers are fully cognisant that the defence of their acquired privileges is not a practical long-term solution - as has been shown by rising deficits, decreased competitiveness and job losses. The author argues that it is necessary to make changes and implement reforms - and to do so it is essential to understand and overcome existing fears. It cannot be expected that everything will be changed at once, but some initial efforts must be made. The single reform that will fix everything does not exist, he says, but this is hardly an excuse for refusing to make a start. In other countries, programmes for economic reform are being implemented. Yet France is only beginning to consider such reforms. The object of this book is to provide a greater understanding of the present situation, in the form of a how-to manual. A ruthless analysis of some of France's psychological blocks, apprehensions and economic fears, this book can be regarded as a sort of economic psychotherapy. In addition, the author provides a critique of the false solutions that hinder modernisation and proposes his own solutions for change and reform. Jean-Paul Betbèze is a professor of economics at the University of Paris Panthéon-Assas and a member of the French prime minister's Council for Economic Analysis. He is a consultant to the president and the C.E.O. of a major bank and the author of Les Dix Commandements de la finance, which was awarded the Risques-Les Echos Prize in 2004.
Antoine Garapon
Neoliberal Justice
An indispensable tool of critical thought to reach an independent opinion.
