Michel Wieviorka

"Violence is sadly central to social life and yet oddly marginal to social theory. It’s there in the background, not least as Weber defines the state by its monopoly of legitimate violence. But as the example suggests, it’s the control of violence that looms large. Michel Wieviorka does a considerable service by calling our attention to violence itself, and to the theories like those of Sorel and Fanon who took it seriously. Wieviorka addresses the state, the media, and social movements. But perhaps his most important contributions come in examination of the ways in which violence informs and is informed by different dimensions of subjectivity. Thoughtfully intertwining classical theory and contemporary observation this is an engaging book, and one that should spark much new thought and research." - Craig Calhoun, London School of Economics and Political Science Violence is an ever-present phenomenon - obstinately resistant to interpretation. This text offers new tools to understand and analyze violence, presenting a new approach based on the subjectivity of the actor, and on the relation between violence and meaning. The first section discusses violence and conflict, violence and the state, and violence and the media. This provides critical context for developing a new paradigm - in the second section - that gives more importance to the concept of the subject than more classical paradigms. The text distinguishes different possible relations between the meaning of action and violence and proposes a new typology of the subjects involved in violence. It gives particular emphasis to discussing cruelty, violence for violence sake, and 'pure' violence. The relationship between conflict and violence; the place of victims, and the role of the media all shape new forms of violence. This text is an engaged response to these new forms that presents a convincing interpretation and new tools that will be essential for researchers in the social sciences.

A New Approach

Violence

Nove Lições de Sociologia

Examining present-day forms of terrorism, violence, racism and hatred, Wieviorka analyses each aspect from a sociological point of view, showing how these various forms of evil are constituted in day-to-day life.

Evil

In this vital addition to the sociological literature on racism, Michel Wieviorka presents a detailed and revisionary analysis of the vocabulary of racism (prejudice, discrimination, segregation and violence), arguing that racism is not reducible to these elementary forms. He shows how the experiences of institutionalized racism in America and anti-Semitism in Europe can be analyzed to provide an understanding of the complex transition from race to racism. As cultural identities are more fragmented in our societies, as the social relations defined by industrial capitalism are in decline, so too are ideas of progress and universality. It is in this context of postmodern social and economic flux that Wieviorka puts forward a

The Arena of Racism

Laurent Lévi-Strauss

Gwenaëlle Lieppe 

Les sciences humaines et sociales ne sont plus le monopole d'une partie du monde et il faut repenser les valeurs universelles, à partir des critiques qui en sont faites, de l'intérieur des sociétés occidentales, et surtout de l'extérieur, lorsque celles-ci ignorent l’apport d’idées nées ailleurs. L’expression « Penser global » constitue un signe de ralliement pour cet ouvrage qui rassemble les contributions de nombre de chercheurs en sciences sociales les plus reconnus dans le monde, présents lors du colloque de 2013 pour le 50e anniversaire de la Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme, tout comme elle a été le thème principal du premier numéro de la revue Socio. Penser global, c’est s’intéresser à des logiques mondiales et articuler ce niveau d’analyse à d’autres niveaux, régionaux, nationaux ou encore locaux.

Internationalisation et globalisation des sciences humaines et sociales

Penser global

Revised and reissued in light of recent events, this classic and now increasingly important book is an exception in the literature on terrorism. Based on complex observations of actual movement participants, Wieviorka's book addresses a broad spectrum of terrorist activity—from Italian left-wing terrorists to Basque nationalist groups to the international terrorism of Palestine and the Middle East. The result is an incisive analysis of what terrorists believe and what they hope to achieve through their actions. For this new edition, Wieviorka adds new material that remaps the state of terrorism after the events of 2001.

The Making of Terrorism

Pourquoi les Juifs sont-ils l’objet d’une haine particulière ? Quand l’antisémitisme est-il apparu ? Est-ce une forme du racisme ?Qui sont les « Sages de Sion » ? Ont-ils existé et comploté ?Pourquoi Hitler détestait-il les Juifs ? Existe-t-il un "business de la Shoah" ?Pourquoi une partie des jeunes issus de l’immigration sont-ils séduits par des discours antisémites ? A-t-on le droit de critiquer Israël ? L’antisionisme, est-ce de l’antisémitisme ?Ce petit livre n’hésite pas à poser les questions les plus dérangeantes. Il démonte avec clarté et tranquillité les idées fausses, les pièges et les théories du complot. Pour comprendre les racines de l’antisémitisme, réfléchir à son actualité, en France et ailleurs, voici un guide indispensable.Sociologue de renommée internationale, Michel Wieviorka est directeur d’études à l’EHESS et administrateur de la Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme. Il a publié de nombreux ouvrages sur le racisme et l’antisémitisme.

L'Antisémitisme expliqué aux jeunes

Philippe Bataille

This book is the first scientific study of present-day French anti-Semitism. As from the beginning of the 21st century France has been witness to a renewal of anti-Semitism which owes as much to internal developments in French society as to global factors and in particular to the conflict in the Middle East.

Hatred of Jews in Present-Day France

The Lure of Anti-Semitism

Gwenaëlle Lieppe

John Thompson

Manuel Castells

Gustavo Cardoso

Olivier Bouin

Joao Caraça

Today, the European Union is facing a crisis as serious as anything it has experienced since its origins more than half a century ago. What makes this so serious is that it is not a single crisis but rather multiple crises – the euro crisis, the migration/refugee crisis, Brexit, etc. – that overlap and reinforce one another, creating a cumulative array of challenges that threatens the very survival of the EU. For the first time in its history, there is a real risk that the EU could break up. This volume brings together sociologists, economists and political scientists from around Europe to shed light on how the EU got into this predicament. It argues that the multiple crises that have plagued the European Union in the last decade stem to a large extent from flaws in its construction and that these flaws are consequences of the political processes that led to the formation of the EU – in other words, the decisions that made possible the development of the EU created the conditions for the multiple crises it experiences today. This timely and wide-ranging book on one of the most important issues of our time will be of great interest to students and scholars in the social sciences, to politicians and policy-makers and to anyone concerned with Europe and its future.

Michel Wieviorka

Books

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