The recent publication of a report on academic freedom has obviously generated immense interest from the Observatory of University Ethics, especially since it makes extensive reference to our Observatory, one of whose missions is
Although the threat is clear, the growing fragility of our cultural institutions in the face of organized criminal networks does not provoke any real reaction: the political and judicial authorities remain inert, while museums, insufficiently equipped and protected, remain at the mercy of a booming heritage crime.
Polybius saw the history of regimes as a moral cycle: democracy degenerates into ochlocracy when virtue disappears. Today, the loss of elite training and the decline of universities recall this mechanism: without education, freedom collapses and the crowd rules in place of reason.
The show "The Best Regional Cuisine" drew the magazine's ire for its stale praise of tradition. However, Télérama is not stingy with praise when it comes to distant traditions.
In a brief, humorous, and caustic autobiographical account, Jacques Robert denounces the intimidation that conference organizers are subjected to at the hands of zealous sycophants. The new cancer culture?
Professor Albert Doja critically analyzes a thesis devoted to the status of "burrnesh" ("sworn virgin", but also "strong woman" in Albanian). An article which illustrates the challenges of scientific rigor, historicization of concepts and vigilance in the face of simplifications or "exoticization" which risk hindering the understanding and support of struggles for equality.
The show "Murmures dans la cité" (Whispers in the City) is being criticized for its funding and its choice of religious figures, deemed incompatible with secularism by a group of heritage professionals. Patrick Henriet explains that the chosen saints played a major role in the Bourbonnais region: their presence is part of a historical, not an ideological, approach.
Pierre Rochette takes a harsh look back at his 44-year career, denouncing the rise of a cumbersome and absurd bureaucracy that seriously hinders scientific research, academic freedom and the functioning of higher education in France.
French public universities, which enroll more than 70% of higher education students, fulfill an essential mission with far fewer resources than the private sector, while relying heavily on state funding. Yet, they suffer from a disconnect between research and teaching, low professionalization, and a lack of institutional recognition, undermining their central role in educating young people and upholding the promise of republican equality.
In "Bad Genre at the Museum," Didier Rykner denounces the growing intrusion of woke and decolonial ideologies into museums, accused of falsifying history, censoring works, and sacrificing art to militant causes. Through a series of concrete examples, he criticizes the trivialization of vandalism, racial obsession, cancel culture, and the ideological rewriting of works—all serious attacks on memory, universalism, and the mission of cultural institutions.