Anthropology, Ethnology All books
Dan Sperber
The Infectiousness of Ideas
Where do our ideas come from ? Some, just from ourselves, or at least we believe so, but the majority come from others which we then pass on in our turn. The age-old philosophical question on the origins of ideas is analysed here in relation to their mode of dissemination. In his search for the natural element of culture, Dan Sperber presents in this book an epidemiology of ideas which describes how they spread by passing from one person to another, undergoing transformations which are in the same category as mutations. He also investigates how these ideas establish themselves in the long-term by occupying our mental world without our conscious knowledge, which allows us to participate in our culture. Dan Sperber, an anthropologist, is the research director of CNRS.
Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Lluis Quintana-Murci
Civilizations: Questioning Identity and Diversity: Autumn Colloquium of the Collège de France
The noun “civilization” entered Western European vocabulary in the Eighteenth Century, and at that time denoted a stage of material, social, and cultural evolution...
Alain Prochiantz
Darwin: 200 Years
More than an homage to a great scientist, this book, written by eminent specialists, is a perfect introduction to understanding the impact of Darwinism on contemporary thinking and science
Barbara Polla
The New Feminisms Struggles and Dreams in the Post-Weinstein Era
New light shed on feminism by a woman involved in the women’s movement. To find oneself in a galaxy of feminist currents. A reflection on the status of women.
Laurence Podselver
Hasidism: The Jews of France in the Face of Fundamentalism
Based on years of study, this unusual anthropological study, helps us understand the individual itineraries that explain why so many Jews...
Pascal Picq
Women, Modernity and Progress
A book that looks back at history from an evolutionary perspective, by bringing women to the forefront of history and rejecting gender stereotypes that are often endorsed by historians themselves.