Preparing for the Night of Ideas: our reading list!
The Night of Ideas is one of the highlights of the year at the Institut Français. The 2019 edition of the Night of Ideas will take place on the 31st of January revolving around this thrilling theme: Facing our time. Our much-awaited speakers will debate on the contemporary challenges ahead of us, focusing on the future of Europe, of democracy, and on the environmental issues. Simultaneously held in Paris, London and worldwide, the Night of Ideas is the occasion to invite audiences to an open debate on the possibilities for a brighter future, where citizens take matters into their own hands. To prepare for this thrilling night of civic debate, what could be better than reading the books written by the speakers who will engage audiences in free debates to question today’s challenges?
First of all, the Night of Ideas will feature speakers who will investigate the issues of democracy in Europe under the topic “Europe beyond walls”. To prepare for that thematic, there are a few books we recommend.
Professor Anthony Grayling, a British philosopher, is the British specialist about questions revolving around the issues of democracy. In his last book, Democracy and its crisis (Oneworld publications), he leads a reflection on the contemporary threats that democracy encounters. By leaning into landmark moments of the recent years, such as the Brexit referendum or Trump’s victory, he investigates why the institutions of representative democracy seem unable to hold up against forces they were designed to manage.
Marc Roche will investigate the burning issues of Brexit. He exercised as an attached reporter for Le Monde in London, and wrote Le Brexit va réussir (Albin Michel).
Thomas Serrier wrote Europa Notre Histoire: L’héritage européen depuis Homère (Les Arènes), tracing back to the historical and cultural roots of Europe.
To commemorate the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, Anne Kaminsky wrote Where in the World is the Berlin Wall (Berlin Story Verlag).
Theodore Zeldin's works revolve around the issues of memory and its democratic implications, through the book The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future (MacLehose) or instance. It was published in France under the title Les plaisirs cachés de la vie (Fayard).
Anna Reading reflected on Gender and Memory in the Globital Age in 2016 (Palgrave).
Onto British political grounds, Agnès Alexandre-Collier wrote about the British democratic system in Les habits neufs de David Cameron (Presses de Sciences Po).
Its pendent reflection on the French political landscape is embodied by Sophie Pedder's works. She published last year the book Emmanuel Macron and the Quest to Reinvent a Nation (Bloomsbury).
Philippe Marlière is a specialist of the political left-wing, and co-wrote La Gauche radicale en Europe (Editions du croquant).
Alberto Alemanno’s his last book is called Lobbying for Change: Find Your Voice to Create a Better Society (Iconbooks), in which he evaluates the prospects of a better future.
This leads us to the second theme of the night of ideas that revolves around the environment, investigating “the earth here and now”.
One of the highlights of the night of ideas will be Nicolas Hulot, former French minister for the environment. He wrote books about the environmental urgency facing our times, such as Osons ! (Les liens qui libèrent).
Tim Jackson, the famous ecological economist, wrote the ground-breaking Prosperity without growth (Routledge), following the sustainable development commission, published in 2009.
For more technical environmental debates, Joanna Haigh wrote The Sun's Influence on Climate (Princeton).
Finally, the filmmaker Cyril Dion wrote Tomorrow: All Over the Globe, Solutions Already Exist (Chelsea Green) translated into English from the French Actes Sud edition. We also recommend viewing his film, adapted from his book, featuring Mélanie Laurent.
So get ready for our 2019 edition of the Night of Ideas by getting to (re)read these great works!