Human Sciences All books
Jean-François Deniau
The Office of Lost Secrets
La Rochefoucauld once wrote that "neither the sun nor death can be stared at. " The French moralist could have added that truth also can be blinding. Deniau examines several particularly spectacular cases throughout history and under a variety of political regimes, where leaders in the upper echelons of civil and military power have refused to face the truth. He studies major cases in the fields of espionage and international relations, proposing new interpretations of some of these cases, including of the Dreyfus affair. Jean-François Deniau is the author of numerous best-sellers, and a member of the Académie Française.
Irène Théry
Modern Relationships and the Family The response of the law to the transformation of the family and the couple
The melting pot where each individual is formed, but also the nucleus of communal life, the family is today a crucial institution of society. However, the current statistics show less, and later marriages, in addition to an increase in divorces and in reconstructed and one parent families, with young people becoming autonomous later as a consequence of these changes. In the face of this, what points of reference should be taken in order to construct the indispensable family policies needed by our country ? With regard to filiation, parental authority, marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and the inheritance and protection of children, how do we adapt the law to these new social realities ? Irène Théry, a sociologist, and author of Démariage, presents in this work an analysis of the state of the family and of private life today, and puts forward the foundations of a new and ambitious step for France.
Éric Dubreuil
Parents of the Same Sex
A growing number of gay men and women have founded families and are discovering the joys of parenting. It is estimated that there are approximately 500,000 families headed by parents of the same sex. They have brought the issue of homosexual parenting into the public arena, shattering traditional notions of the family and raising fundamental questions of filiation, adoption, and medically assisted procreation (artificial insemination, surrogate mothers) which go beyond the sphere of homosexuality and concern the future of our societyand therefore of all of us. Based on 29 interviews, including seven of children and teenagers, the book explores the little-known lives of same-sex-parent families.
Collectif
The Judicial System as a Public Service
Should the judicial system be reformed ? This question is at the centre of lively debates. It is to institutions such as the chancellery, courts of law and magistrates, that it falls to forge the judicial system, the deliverer of order, equilibrium and social cohesion. However, these institutions seem today to be weak, both in terms of organisation, and in methods of recruitment. It is thus necessary that changes are made. This is especially so as the duty of the judicial system is to operate in such a way that all individuals remain citizens, by delivering them judgements in a reasonable timescale which are certain to be respected. In this respect, it is a public service. The objective of this book is to assess the forms and the effects of a decisive reform in order to benefit our society.