Societal issues All books
Geneviève Bédoucha
Lunar Eclipse in Yemen An Anthropologist's Emotions and Feelings of Bewilderment
This is a fascinating approach by a woman of a tribal society in a mountain valley in northern Yemen, near the Saudi Arabian border. Partly a travel book and partly a journal of the author's fieldwork, it restores an anthropologist's unique first-hand experience, questionings, hesitations and discoveries, from the first moments spent in an unfamiliar village. There are few anthropological works on Yemen, and even fewer about private life in rural societies in the hinterland of the former Arab Republic of Yemen (the author's fieldwork dates from the 1980s, before reunification). At the time, the presence of a female anthropologist led both men and women to talk openly, often jokingly and provocatively, of male-female relations, and it seemed to encourage women to voice strong criticisms of male behaviour and privileges. The women's comments reveal them to be lucid independent thinkers, and not at all submissive. This book is an invitation to discover a little-known rural community at close quarters, and to penetrate the secret universe of Yemen's many-storied mud houses. It reveals relations between men and women in a closed, but curious and hospitable, Muslim Arab society. An anthropologist and research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Geneviève Bédoucha is a specialist in the relations between socio-political structures and irrigation systems in Arabic and Islamic societies.
Sebastian Roché
Réformer la police et la sécurité
Demands for increased public safety are prevalent in both Europe and the United States, and they take similar forms. Do policies based on such notions as zero tolerance, local policing, partnership and mediation serve any real purpose or do they simply act as decoys? In New York City, as elsewhere, improved public safety resulted from the decentralisation of resources and power and, therefore, of responsibilities. In the articles included here, the writers, who are all experts in public safety in their respective countries, examine the issues in a dispassionate manner and offer a comparative study of the results obtained in different countries. Finally, they make some concrete suggestions to resolve the problem of petty crime and incivilities. Sébastian Roché is a professor at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques, in Grenoble. He is the author of Tolérance zéro? Incivilitié et insecurité, published by Editions Odile Jacob.
Jacques Bouveresse, Daniel Roche
Freedom Through Knowledge: Pierre Bourdieu, 1930-2002 (Travaux du Collège de France)
Gathered in this volume are the texts of lectures given in memory of Pierre Bourdieu at an international colloquium held on 26-27 June 2003 and jointly organised by the Collège de France and the Ecole Normale Supérieure, with the backing of the Hugot Foundation.
Alain Bentolila
All about scholl
This is a brilliant, clearly argued demonstration of how the inability of the school system to evolve and develop a critical spirit may lead to the general failure of our entire society.
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?
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.
Yves Michaud
Equality and Inequalities Volume 10
This volume continues and prolongs the earlier, highly successful series "LUniversité de tous les savoirs" (365 lectures, published in six volumes by Editions Odile Jacob). Renowned specialists in their fields examine the inequalities that exist between countries as well as among individuals: unequal access to education, the technological gap, unequal treatment before the law, economic inequalities, and disparities concerning health and hygiene.
Élisabeth Badinter
The Wrong Road
Badinters new book is a candid review of 15 years of feminist discussion and polemics. From womens point of view, what real progress has been accomplished in the last 15 years? Do the feminist voices that are most often heard today express the concerns of the majority of women? What image of women and men are these feminist voices trying to promote? What model of sexuality do they wish to impose? Are we witnessing the return of the old male and female stereotypes, at womens expense?