French Literature Reviews - 2026

B. Lahire, Monde pluriel. Penser l'unité des sciences sociales
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

Bernard Lahire, Monde pluriel. Penser l'unité des sciences sociales

Paris: Éditions du Seuil, coll. "La Couleur des idées", 2012.

EAN 9782021064599.

400 p.

Price 24EUR

Publisher's overview:

How can we paint a comprehensive picture of the social world when disciplinary silos and the hyperspecialization of knowledge drive researchers to study increasingly narrow fragments of that reality? While this fragmentation is a consequence of the very social differentiation process they seek to analyze, it is also precisely what prevents them from achieving a global perspective.

Yet a central question provides the humanities and social sciences with a common foundation: why do individuals do what they do? And they answer this question all the more effectively when they manage to capture actors' practices at the intersection of their incorporated past experiences and the contexts of their present actions. While most researchers agree on this point, few share a consensus on the relevant frameworks in which actors must be situated to analyze various dimensions of their practices. Subjecting notions such as "field," "world," "system," or "interaction framework" to critical scrutiny thus means working toward their theoretical synthesis.

Here, Bernard Lahire strives to distance himself from the current state of the humanities and social sciences and the divisions running through them, offering us a glimpse into the hidden unity of a seemingly highly fragmented field.

Bernard Lahire, professor of sociology at the École normale supérieure de Lyon, has published some fifteen books, including L’Homme pluriel (Nathan, 1998), La Culture des individus (La Découverte, 2004), and Franz Kafka. Éléments pour une théorie de la création littéraire (La Découverte, 2010).

This publication speaks directly to long-standing debates within sociology and the broader humanities regarding the fragmentation of academic disciplines. As researchers increasingly concentrate on narrow empirical domains, the broader connection between individual practices and structural contexts risks fading from view. Bernard Lahire addresses this methodological divide by examining how actors navigate multiple social spaces and how their incorporated past experiences intersect with present settings. Readers interested in contemporary sociological theory and epistemology may find this volume relevant to their inquiries into interdisciplinary synthesis.

The volume engages with foundational sociological concepts such as fields, systems, and interaction frameworks, questioning their theoretical boundaries to propose a more unified approach. By building upon his previous investigations into individual pluralism and cultural practices, the author contributes to ongoing discussions on how human action is shaped across diverse spheres of life. The text offers a reflection on the institutional and intellectual conditions that currently structure the social sciences, encouraging scholars to reconsider the common foundations underlying their various specialized domains.