Pierre Rosanvallon , born with Blois in 1948, is a Historien and intellectual French. Its work concerns mainly the history of the Démocratie, and the French political model, and on the role of the State and the question of social justice in the contemporary companies.

It occupies since 2001 the pulpit of modern history and contemporary of the policy to the Collège de France while remaining director of studies to the École of the high studies in social sciences (EHESS), where it directs the Research center policies Raymond Aron.

It was one of the principal theorists of the Autogestion associated with the CFDT.

Biography

Studies

• Graduate of the School of the High commercial studies (HEC)
• science Doctor of management
• arts Doctor and social sciences

Career

He was successively permanent trade-union democratic French Confédération of work (CFDT), member of the Socialist party Unified (PSU) then Socialist party. In 1982, it creates the Fondation Saint-Simon with François Furet, whose dissolution took place on December 31st, 1999. It engages in 1995 in defense of the reform of the Social security presented by the government Juppe in 1995, in particular signing a petition published in Le Monde in its favor.

He is member since 2002 of the Scientific advice of the National library of France, since 2004 of the Scientific advice of the National university.

He creates in 2002, with the financial support of large companies (Altadis, Lafarge, AGF, EDF, Air France…), the Republic of the Ideas, a “intellectual workshop” which it chairs. Its ambition is of “refonder a new social criticism”, detached from what it names the “archeoradicalism” or the “radical-nostalgic ideology”. This group publishes a review, the Life of the Ideas as well as a collection of books to the editions of the Threshold, and organized in 2006 the forum of Grenoble on “new social criticism”.

In October 2007, it takes part in the launching of Internet site the Life of the ideas, magazine of analysis and information on the ideological debate.

Thoughts of Pierre Rosanvallon

There exist two types of distrust according to Pierre Rosanvallon.

The first, liberal, consists in being wary of a too strong capacity. This principle of moderation rests on the Constitution, on rules limiting the capacity.

The second is a democratic form of distrust exerted through the media, associations, ONG and the groups of citizens. These voices build a democratic attention and a capacity of alarm.

The voters also seem to express their suspicions.

Front, there was a blind confidence of the voters, in particular in the precepts of the Communist party or the speech gaullien.

Pierre Rosanvallon explains qu'" today, the voter does not give any more a blank check for a mandate. Beyond, we attend a swing of the forms of positive distrust towards a negative distrust. Instead of a call to vigilance, the citizen stigmatizes the capacity, considered as outside with the société."

The political power is perceived like bad, therefore one it diabolise rather than to correct it or to put it to the test. This degradation leads to the populism. That is very strong at the populations feeling given up by the State. Living in margin of the company, where there is a real precariousness and an incomprehension of the system such as it functions, they want to put it at the door.

The voter replaces the elected officials who disappointed it. That does not proceed more than one choice, but of an elimination. The citizen may find it beneficial to be entitled to vote and controller. One needs muscler the forms of distrust positive, civic, associative, even to institutionalize them. The democracy cannot be intermittent. The establishment of jurys citizens, in order to know the opinion of the population on the capacity such as it is exerted, is a track.

New technology do not reinforce the democratic debate for Rosanvallon, Internet even if it offers an access unlimited to the speech, does not produce a common direction. However, it is this common direction, this will to think the general interest which founds the democratic ideal.

According to him, Internet is summarized at the same time like the absolute democracy but also like the ill-advised absolute. In the sense that new the technology of the Internet disseminate, whereas the policy must crystallize and slice.

Works

• the Age of self-management , the Threshold, coll Points policy, 1976,246 p.

• the Crisis of the Welfare state , the Threshold, 1981
• the Moment Guizot , Gallimard, 1985
• the State in France of 1789 to our days, the Threshold, historical Universe, 1990
• impossible Monarchy Beech 1994
• the New Social question, Points, Tests, 1995
• the New Age of the inequalities , (With Jean-Paul Fitoussi), the Threshold, 1996
• untraceable People: History of the democratic representation in France , Folio History, 1998
• the unfinished Democracy. History of the sovereignty of the people in France, Gallimard, Library of the stories, 2000, Folio History
• the Sacring of the citizen. History of the vote for all in France , Folio History, 2001
• For a conceptual history of the policy , the Threshold, 2003
• the French political Model. The civil society against the Jacobinism of 1789 to our days, the Threshold, 2004
• the against-democracy. The policy at the age of the distrust , Threshold, 2006.

On Rosanvallon

• Christophe Gaubert, “Cultural revolution and production of a “intellectual of proposal” (Pierre Rosanvallon)”, in Sylvie Tissot (under dir it. of), militant Reconversions , university Presses of Limoges, 2005.

References