Jean-Louis Fabiani

Education

Fabiani aggregated in philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure in 1974 before graduating with his PhD in 1980 at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales under the supervision of Pierre Bourdieu.

Work

Fabiani's research has addressed the study of what he calls "configurations of knowledge" understood as the ways in which disciplines and scientific institutions are built and how they change. This problem was the subject of his book Les philosophes de la République (1998) published by Les Éditions de Minuit in the collection "Sens commun" (compiled by Pierre Bourdieu).

From 1988 to 1991, Fabiani was the director of regional cultural affairs in Corsica. In January 2015, Fabiani was appointed by Fleur Pellerin as an Officier des arts et lettres in recognition for his “significant contributions to the arts and literature” of France.

Teaching

Fabiani is presently a senior professor at the Central European University in the department of sociology and social anthropology, a position he has held since 2011, as well as full professor and director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales. In 2014, Fabiani was the Fernand Braudel Fellow at the European University Institute in the department of history and civilization.

Fabiani has held several visiting professorships, most notably at the sociology departments of the University of California, San Diego, the University of Chicago, the Université de Montréal and the University of Michigan.