About Pierre Rosanvallon
Born 1948. Pierre Rosanvallon is a French historian, professor, economist, trade unionist, politician and political theorist.
Pierre Rosanvallon (; born 1 January 1948) is a French left historian and sociologist. He was named a professor at the Collège de France in 2001, holding the chair in modern and contemporary political history.
His works are dedicated to the history of democracy, French political history, the role of the state and the question of social justice in contemporary societies. Career He is also director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, where he led the Raymond Aron Centre of Political Researches between 1992 and 2005. Rosanvallon was in the 1970s one of the primary theoreticians of workers' self-management in the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) trade union.
He graduated from the Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) management school with a PhD from the École des hautes études en sciences sociales. In 1982, he created the Fondation Saint-Simon think-tank, along with François Furet. The Fondation dissolved in December 1999. Rosanvallon is a member of the Scientific Counsels of both the French National Library (since 2002) and the École normale supérieure (since 2004) in Paris.
Rosanvallon created in 2002 the "intellectual workshop" La République des Idées, which publishes a review and books.
Publishings L'Âge de l'autogestion, Le Seuil, coll. Points politique, 1976. Le capitalisme utopique: critique de idéologie economique. Editions du Seuil, 1979. La Crise de l'État-providence, Editions du Seuil, 1981 . Le Moment Guizot, Gallimard, 1985. L'État en France de 1789 à nos jours, Editions du Seuil, L'Univers historique, 1990. La Monarchie impossible Fayard 1994 La Nouvelle Question sociale, Points, Essais, 1995 (transl. in 2000, The New Social Question: Rethinking the Welfare State, ) Le Nouvel Âge des inégalités, (Avec Jean-Paul Fitoussi), Editions du Seuil, 1996 Le Peuple introuvable : Histoire de la représentation démocratique en France, Folio Histoire, 1998. La Démocratie inachevée. Histoire de la souveraineté du peuple en France, Gallimard, Bibliothèque des histoires, 2000, Folio Histoire extraits déchargables Le capitalisme utopique: Histoire de l'idée du marché. Editions de Seuil, 1999. Le Sacre du citoyen. Histoire du suffrage universel en France, Folio Histoire, 2001 Pour une histoire conceptuelle du politique, Editions du Seuil, 2003 Le Modèle politique français. La société civile contre le jacobinisme de 1789 à nos jours, Le Seuil, 2004 Democracy Past and Future, (Columbia University Press, ed. Samuel Moyn, 2006) (excerpts) The Demands of Liberty — Civil Society in France since the Revolution, Harvard 2007, La contre-démocratie. La politique à l'âge de la défiance, Seuil, 2006. Engl.: Counter-democracy : politics in an age of distrust, Cambridge University Press, New York 2008, La légitimité démocratique. Impartialité, réflexivité, proximité, Editions du Seuil, Paris 2008. Engl.: Democratic legitimacy: impartiality, reflexivity, proximity, translated by Arthur Goldhammer, Princeton University Press, Princeton 2011, La société des égaux, Paris: Seuil, 2011. Refaire société, Collectif, préface par Pierre Rosanvallon, avec Christian Baudelot, Magali Bessone, Robert Castel, François Dubet, Armand Hatchuel, Blanche Segrestin, Cécile Van de Velde, Seuil, La République des idées, 2011 . Engl.: The Society of Equals, translated by Arthur Goldhammer, Harvard University Press, 2013, Le Parlement des invisibles ( Manifeste pour "raconter la vie"), Le Seuil 2014 Le Bon Gouvernement, Le Seuil, 2015 Notre Histoire intellectuelle et politique, 1968-2018, Le Seuil, 2018 Les épreuves de la vie, Le Seuil 2021
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Important facts
People in Pierre Rosanvallon's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Pierre Rosanvallon?
French historian, political theorist and intellectual
When was Pierre Rosanvallon born?
Pierre Rosanvallon was born on 1 January 1948 in Blois.
What is Pierre Rosanvallon's occupation?
Pierre Rosanvallon is a historian, professor, economist, trade unionist, politician and political theorist.
What nationality is Pierre Rosanvallon?
Pierre Rosanvallon is French.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Pierre Rosanvallon
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Pierre Rosanvallon. https://biography.guide/pierre-rosanvallon/
MLA: "Pierre Rosanvallon." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/pierre-rosanvallon/.
Chicago: "Pierre Rosanvallon." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/pierre-rosanvallon/.
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