Reflections for a Sociological Representation of the Eater

Professor Jean Pierre Corbeau is an important author of the French sociology of food. He played a decisive role in the emergence of the concept of the eater. This essay is a reflexive discussion by the author of one of his theoretical articles published in 1997. It is an opportunity for the English-speaking sociological community to become better acquainted with this current in the sociology of food.

Durkheim, Tarde, Latour

This chapter is motivated by the recent reappraisal of the historical debate between Gabriel Tarde and Durkheim. The current interest in this debate is sparked by French actor-network theorist Bruno Latour’s attempt to repatriate Tarde, at the expense of Durkheim, as the true “classic” of (French) sociology. This chapter investigates the central issues to the historical debate, and it discusses Latour’s recent appropriation of it, his interpretation of Tarde, and his critique of Durkheim. First, the author delves into the young Durkheim’s programmatic ideas for his new science of sociology and seeks to make Tarde’s (and Latours) objections understandable. It is demonstrated, however, that while it is true that the young Durkheim was ardently critical toward the concept of imitation, it stands, rather surprisingly, at the very center of his late sociology of religion. Second, the author discusses some main ambivalences in Tarde’s work of great significance for the debate. Third, the author delves into Latour’s critique of Durkheim, assesses the merits of this critique, and intimates a possible compromise between Latour and Durkheim.

Explanations and excuses in French sociology

The terrorist attacks that struck France in 2015 had reverberations throughout the country’s intellectual fields. Among the most significant was a widespread polemic that turned around whether sociological explanations of the attacks amounted to excuses and justifications for terrorists. When prominent politicians and pundits made allegations of this nature, sociologists reacted in three main ways: most denied the allegations, others reappropriated the derogatory label of excuse, while others still accepted criticism and called for a reformation of sociology. These epistemological stances can be properly understood only by studying the long history of debates around ‘sociological excuses’ in France and by analysing French sociology as a field of forces and struggles.

The difficult reception of Durkheim at the National University of Litoral (1910-1947)

The present work aims to study the reception of Emile Durkheim´s ideas in the “Sociology” chair of the School of Law of the University of Litoral between 1910-1947. To achieve it, the text focus on the books, articles, class notes, etc., of those who were professors of the afore chair: Gustavo Martínez Zuviría, José Oliva, José María Rosa and Francisco Ayala. Throughout the text, a difficult diffusion of French sociology among the first Santa Fe professors will be appreciated, which did not, however, prevent the apparition of original readings and applications of the theory of the Alsatian intellectual.

The critique and its critical moments: The recent pragmatic turn in French sociology

The aim of this article is to present the pragmatic turn in French sociology as outlined in Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot’s book, On Justification. First, the article gives a general introduction to the main focal points of the French sociological field in the 1980s. Then, it presents De la justification, regarded as a landmark in the pragmatic turn of French sociology. Next, the article presents two of its key concepts: cité and proof. Finally, through an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the model, the article questions some of its limits and challenges, such as integrating pragmatic intuition with issues such as the sociologist’s critical engagement, and the analysis of long-term processes, problems and dispositions.

Strategies of public intellectual engagement

This introduction to the Special Section on public intellectual engagement has three objectives. First, to explore the different meanings that the polysemic term ‘strategy’ can hold in relation to intellectuals. In the process, we showcase both this concept’s potential theoretical yield and its capacity to bridge the ‘performative’ and event-oriented study of intellectuals more common in English-speaking sociology with longue durée career-oriented analyses more associated with French sociology. The second objective is to reassess some of the main contributions to the sociology of intellectuals by reference to this notion of ‘strategy’, especially concerning issues of political allegiance and group membership. The final objective is to illustrate the potential of this approach in empirical work on intellectual engagement and introduce the articles that comprise the Special Section.

THEORETICAL AXES OF THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL COHESION: RETHINKING OF E. DURKHEIM'S SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE

The paper is dedicated to reviewing the scientific heritage of the classic of French sociology E. Durkheim through the optics of identification of theoretical foundations of the concept of social cohesion. Methodological complexity of the research task is due to the lack of well-formed and clearly defined concept of social cohesion in the scientific heritage of E. Durkheim, reconstruction of theoretical axes of which requires sociological imagination and inductive method using. The author attributes the relevance of this research perspective to the fact that in most foreign studies dedicated to social cohesion phenomenon research there are either limited mentions of E. Durkheim as one of the founders of social cohesion concept or inaccurate interpretations of his views. The paper identifies seven theoretical axes of the concept of social cohesion, presented in the scientific heritage of E. Durkheim - homogeneity / differentiation, value-normative consensus / anomie, lack of interactions / constancy of interactions, mechanical solidarity / organic solidarity, relationship between individual and collective, inclusion / exclusion, integration / disintegration. The author has determined semantic purpose and presence at different social levels for each axis. It is established that some elements of certain theoretical axes are present as components of models of social cohesion empirical operationalization in contemporary foreign studies conducted by J. Chan, R. Berger-Schmitt, J. Jenson. It is summed up heuristics of E. Durkheim's definition of essence of social cohesion as a social process that has a dynamic nature of formation and reproduction, requires avoidance of extreme states of its implementation (overpowering or deficiency) and has an impact on all social levels – macro-, meso- and micro-. Emphasis has been placed on the identification of the classics of French sociology social cohesion practical significance as a social phenomenon that has preventive properties against a wide range of negative social phenomena and processes. This fact, according to the author, makes the concept of social cohesion heuristic not only for scientific discourse but also for contemporary state social policy.

Revisiting Plozévet

A special issue of French Cultural Studies in 1999 sought to explore the ways in which Modern Linguists have often tended to erase traces of their personal lives from their work. Contributors responded in an autobiographical mode by exploring the ‘hidden selves of scholars and teachers’. This article builds on these reflections by exploring the extent to which Edgar Morin’s Commune en France (1967), his contribution to the multidisciplinary project in Plozévet in Brittany, may be understood as ‘autobiographie involontaire’. The study reads Morin’s Journal de Plozévet (published in 2001, over three decades after the research was completed) in relation to the original monograph and suggests that the diary operates as the second panel of a diptych that reveals the texts’ interdependence. The journal fulfils a ‘genetic’ function, providing the sources for elements of Morin’s monograph and giving an indication of the extent to which Morin drew on the work of his wider team to complement his own observations. More importantly, however, reading the two texts in counterpoint – the one providing spontaneous reflections in the field; the other revealing their processing in the immediate aftermath of the enquête – is part of the revelation of the ‘hidden selves’ of a researcher embedded in a monograph that has been long considered a classic of post-war French sociology.