Gisèle Sapiro
Professor of Sociology, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
I am a professor of sociology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris and a research director at the CNRS. I have written books about public intellectuals, freedom of expression, literature, translation and the circulation of ideas.
EXPs by Gisèle Sapiro
We need a common language to be able to communicate and to exchange ideas. In science, the dream has always been to have a formal language, like logics and mathematics, which would allow us to reduce ambiguity.
Ideas do not circulate on their own. The circulation of ideas and knowledge depends on a series of social factors and the action of cultural intermediaries.
The question of the circulation of ideas questions the construction of the canon. There is a canon specific to each discipline, and one that transcends disciplines, as the examples of Marx, Freud and Foucault illustrate.