Traditionally in French, social link was derogatory, recently it has become wishful goal. The book by Robert D. Putnam, Bowling alone, analyses a great deal of material to show that Americans are loosing their traditional associativeness. Some of his indices are not quite convincing. A...

Recent victimization surveys give new data on criminality in different European countries. The statistics show that the evolution of criminality in France is following the same trend as the other European countries and the level of criminality is close to the average of Europe.France is...

[eng] French Society Carried Along by its Central Constellation Henri Mendras Today the hierarchical and pyramidal vision of society seems to be out of date as does the marxist vision. A « cosmographie » vision seems more relevant in accounting for the recent transformations of French society....

[fre] L'économie «informelle» est définie par les économistes en opposition aux activités économiques comptabilisables et en fonction des réglementations de la puissance publique, ce qui les enferme dans une contradiction : évaluer ce qui échappe à leurs comptes. Les sociologues...

[eng] In the last twenty years the French society has been affected by radical transformations which should be taken into account when studying the links between economy and society. During the period of very rapid economic growth, the massive enrichment has been the condition of social changes,...

[fre] La réflexion sur l'évolution de la structure de la société française a été au centre de la campagne présidentielle. La contestation des élites et l'importance accordée par les médias à la pauvreté relèvent de la même inquiétude : la société française est-elle en train de...