French History

Історіографія французького фашизму

by Ivan Gomza

The article studies the discussion, held in French academic circles in 1980-1990s about the notion of French fascism.... more The article studies the discussion, held in French academic circles in 1980-1990s about the notion of French fascism. The significance of this discussion is in revealing the mythologised facets of the  French contemporary history.

‘Le Bureau des rêveries. Le conseiller d’Etat Fontanieu et les projets de finances au milieu du XVIIIème siècle’, in B. Barbiche et Y.-M. Bercé (eds.), Etudes sur l’ancienne France offertes en l’hommage à Michel Antoine, (Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Ecole des Chartes, 2003), pp. 153-173.

by Joel FELIX

Reviews of the book at
http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/hssh/article/viewFile/4377/3575

Il Servizio Storico della Difesa francese

by Flavio Carbone

published in Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, “Bollettino dell’Archivio dell’Ufficio Storico”, a. V, n. 10 luglio/dicembre 2005, pp. 179-195.

The historical service of the French Defense Ministry. The essay was published after few time from the establishment... more The historical service of the French Defense Ministry. The essay was published after few time from the establishment of the French Joint Historical service, try to show how the service started to work and to join the different visions and components of the armed forces.

Le quattro Compagnie delle Galere in una Raccolta dell’Azienda Generale del Soldo

by Flavio Carbone

published in “Bollettino d’Archivio dell’Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare” a. XXII – marzo 2008, pp. 213-234.

The author oriented the paper thanks to some documents found in a library and tried to explain some points of the life... more The author oriented the paper thanks to some documents found in a library and tried to explain some points of the life and the activities led by the galleys companies personnel during the first period of the Sardinia Kingdom by Savoy.

La Pologne, un don maternel de Catherine de Médicis ? La cérémonie de la remise du Decretum electionis à Henri de Valois

by Ewa Kociszewska

Le Moyen Age 2011/3-4 (Le mécénat féminin en France et en Bourgogne, XIV-XVIe siècles. Nouvelles perspectives)

The ‘imponderable fluidity’ of modernity: Georges Méliès and the architectural origins of cinema

by Brian R. Jacobson

published in Early Popular Visual Culture, 2010

Fortschrittsdiskurse in Frankreich und den USA im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert

by Matthias Waechter

‘The role of the Omega antenna in La Reunion during the Cold War’ In Revue Historique de l’Océan Indien (2) 2005. 10 p (in French)

by Heloise Finch-Boyer

‘The Indian Ocean historic digital image library’ In Association des Docteurs et Doctorants de La Réunion : Revue de la Recherche (3) 2008. 2p (in French)

by Heloise Finch-Boyer

Check out the Indian Ocean historic image library at http://www.ihoi.org/app/photopro.sk/ihoi_icono/home?lang=eng

On pages 8 and 9 of the magazine there is a 2008 interview with Dr David Gagneur, the project manager for the Indian... more On pages 8 and 9 of the magazine there is a 2008 interview with Dr David Gagneur, the project manager for the Indian Ocean historic image library, based in La Reunion.

Check out the recently updated (2012) Indian Ocean historic image library at http://www.ihoi.org/app/photopro.sk/ihoi_icono/home?lang=eng

“Something Notably Erotic”: Politics, “Arab Men,” and Sexual Revolution in Post-decolonization France, 1962–1974, , The Journal of Modern History March 2012, Vol. 84, No. 1: 80-115

by Todd Shepard

IV Workshop LBS, 16 aprile 2012

by La Bottega dello Storico LBS

La Bottega dello Storico è lieta di presentarvi un nuovo workshop dal titolo "Trincee francesi. La guerra delle... more La Bottega dello Storico è lieta di presentarvi un nuovo workshop dal titolo "Trincee francesi. La guerra delle storiografie sul conflitto del '14-'18". A discutere come relatori saranno presenti il prof. Antoine Imbault (Université de Lorraine), coadiuvato dalla Dott.ssa Grazia Di Ceglie (Università di Napoli L'Orientale). Moderatore dell'incontro sarà il Dott. Giovanni Savino, dottore presso il SUM. 16 Aprile 2012 Biblioteca BRAU (P. Bellini), ore 16

"Who Should Be the Author of a Dwelling?" Architects versus Housewives in 1950s France

by Nicole Rudolph

Domestic Politics: The Cité expérimentale at Noisy-le-Sec in Greater Paris

by Nicole Rudolph

The power struggle of intellectuals at the end of the second world war: a study in the sociology of ideas

by Patrick Baert

In: European Journal of Social Theory 14(4) 2011, pp. 415-435

This article is one of the first sociological explorations of power struggles between intellectuals where matters of... more This article is one of the first sociological explorations of power struggles between intellectuals where matters of life and death are literally at stake. It counters the prevailing tendency within sociology to study intellectuals within confined academic institutions where power struggles are limited to matters of symbolic and institutional recognition. This study explores the conflict between collaborationist and Resistance intellectuals at the end of the Second World War in France, and it focuses in particular on the purge of collaborationist intellectuals which culminated in several high profile trials. This article shows that the arguments and meta-arguments put forward in these trials led to broader intellectual debates outside the courtroom. These debates not only centred on the notion of the writer’s responsibility, but also dealt with anxieties about the disintegrative forces of modern society. Whereas collaborationist intellectuals portrayed their writing as either separate from politics or rescuing a defunct or degenerate nation, Resistance intellectuals such as Jean-Paul Sartre were keen to portray collaborators as outsiders, both socially and sexually, lacking in social integration and subservient to a strong external force. The Resistance intellectuals saw the notion of individual responsibility not as antithetical but as integral to the remaking of the French nation, and this concept would become the cornerstone of the reshaping of the intellectual landscape in the post-war era in France.

Keywords: de Beauvoir, intellectuals, meta-arguments, power struggles, purge, Sartre, trials

The sudden rise of French existentialism: a case-study in the sociology of intellectual life

by Patrick Baert

Published in Theory and Society 2011 40, pp. 619-644.

This article offers a new explanation for the sudden rise in popularity of French existentialism, in particular of... more This article offers a new explanation for the sudden rise in popularity of French existentialism, in particular of Sartre’s version, in the mid-1940s. It develops a multidimensional account which recognises both structural and cultural factors. The explanation differs from, and more fully addresses the complexity of the situation than, the two most prominent existing explanations: namely Anna Boschetti’s Bourdieu-inspired account and Randall Collins’ network-based approach. It is argued that, because of specific socio-political circumstances, the intellectual establishment became tainted and lost legitimacy, with its aesthetic and philosophical views now regarded as outdated if not politically dangerous. This hiatus brought unprecedented publishing opportunities for a new philosophical current, and skilful public performances by the main protagonists helped its ascendancy. Most importantly, existentialist writers colluded with de Gaulle in portraying a cohesive and defiant French nation; and their philosophy, especially in its notion of responsibility, enabled sections of French society to assimilate and make sense of the recent past, whilst drawing a line underneath it so as to move forward.

Key words: Sartre, sociology of philosophy, sociology of ideas, public intellectuals, cultural trauma

Jean-Paul Sartre's positioning in Anti-Semite and Jew

by Patrick Baert

Published in the Journal of Classical Sociology 11 4 2011, pp. 378-397.

This article is one of the first to employ positioning theory to analyse an intellectual product. After introducing... more This article is one of the first to employ positioning theory to analyse an intellectual product. After introducing the theory itself, it explores how Sartre’s book Réflexions sur la question juive enabled him to locate himself within, as well as intervene in, the socio-political and intellectual context at the time.  Using the text, Sartre positioned himself as an authoritative public intellectual; that is, a generalist, drawing on his vast cultural resources to speak out about a wide range of important societal issues with moral conviction. He also positioned himself within the tradition of the Dreyfusard notion of the intellectual - that is, as an intellectual who engages with contemporary social and political issues and who is a defender of progressive Republican notions whilst remaining an independent voice - with the qualification that he expressed disquiet about the French Republican notion of citizenship. Drawing on these insights, the article ends discussing glaring omissions in Sartre’s Réflexions sur la question juive, making sense of them in the light of the socio-political context of the mid-1940s in France. The article shows the fruitfulness of positioning theory for analysing intellectual interventions whether they are in the form of books, essays or articles.

Key words: Sartre, perfomativity, positioning theory, intellectuals, Jews, anti-Semitism

The League of Nations: A Retreat from International Law?

by Stephen Wertheim

forthcoming in Journal of Global History Vol. 7 No. 2 (2012)

During the First World War, civil society groups across the North Atlantic put forward an array of plans for recasting... more During the First World War, civil society groups across the North Atlantic put forward an array of plans for recasting international society. The most prominent ones sought to build on the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907 by developing international legal codes and, in a drastic innovation, obligating and militarily enforcing the judicial settlement of disputes. Their ideal was a world governed by law, which they opposed to politics. This idea was championed by the largest groups in the United States and France in favor of international organization, and they had likeminded counterparts in Britain. The Anglo-American architects of the League of Nations, however, defined their vision against legalism. Their declaratory design sought to ensure that artificial machinery never stifled the growth of common consciousness. Paradoxically, the bold new experiment in international organization was forged from an anti-formalistic ethos — one that slowed the momentum of international law and portended the rise of global governance.

'Correspondence from Jean-Baptiste Devenet and Claude Prost, book merchants of Lyon, to Fr Luke Wadding OFM, 1647-1654,' Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 104 (2011), 519-45.

by Benjamin Hazard

Droit pénal et états d’exception. Entretien avec Anne Simonin

by Guillaume Calafat

Published in "Tracés. Revue de Sciences humaines", 20 (2011)

This interview with French historian Anne Simonin (CNRS) explores the history of French jurisdictions of exception... more This interview with French historian Anne Simonin (CNRS) explores the history of French jurisdictions of exception from the Revolution to the French Liberation.

The Gallican and Jansenist Roots of Jean-Frédéric Bernard and Bernard Picart’s Vision of the Inquisition

by Guillaume Calafat

Published in Lynn Hunt, Margaret Jacob et Wijnand Mijnhardt (ed.), 'Bernard Picart and The First Global Vision of Religion', Los Angeles, Getty Research Institute, 2010, p. 291-312.

This paper aims to demonstrate that the Gallican and Jansenist vision of the Catholic Inquisition influenced... more This paper aims to demonstrate that the Gallican and Jansenist vision of the Catholic Inquisition influenced Jean-Frédéric Bernard and Bernard Picart 'Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde'(1723-37).