Presentation of the Sciences Po Aix/Iméra Chair – Albert Hirschman: Identity Passions between Europe and the Mediterranean
Two major reasons led to the creation of an Albert O. Hirschman Chair at Iméra in Marseille. The first is an act of recognition, considering the historical role Albert Hirschman had in Marseille between 1940-41. He was the deputy to Varian Fry, who headed the Emergency Rescue Committee, helping to save hundreds of personalities who needed to escape and leave Europe due to Nazism, starting from Marseille. The second reason is the eminent scientific role he embodies. As a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Hirschman is a world-renowned scientific authority and an original thinker in the field of social sciences. He notably published The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism Before Its Triumph, which is why it was decided to orient this chair around identity passions between Europe and the Mediterranean.
Hirschman embodies an open and fully interdisciplinary thinking. He invites us, based on his historical experience and civic engagement, to be vigilant against the rise of identity passions between Europe and the Mediterranean. Through his career as an economist and social scientist, particularly in his two major works: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States and The Passions and the Interests, he lays the foundations for a close link between economics and politics. Albert Hirschman reminds us that economic and social sciences are concerned not only with seeking laws but also with seeking meaning.
The research themes of the Chair, within the framework of relations between Europe and the Mediterranean, are:
- Studies of collective passions
- Studies of national and identity movements
- Studies of social and political behaviors
- Studies of protest mobilizations
- Studies of mobilities, migrations, and their societal impacts
- Studies of politico-religious movements, particularly centered on Islam
- Studies of political forms, especially democratic fragilities
- Cross-disciplinary studies
About the Chair Partner
A founding member of Iméra, Sciences Po Aix is an educational and research institution that is part of the network of top-ranking major political science schools and supports numerous cooperation projects with other scientific operators in the region, such as Aix-Marseille University and the CNRS. AlsoFounding member of the excellence initiative A*Midex, Sciences Po Aix oversees three major UMRs in the Aix-Marseille region: MESOPOLHIS – Mediterranean Center for Sociology, Political Science, and History (MESOPOLHIS UMR 7064); DICE – International, Comparative, and European Law (DICE); and AMSE – Aix-Marseille School of Economics (AMSE). An active player in the structuring of the humanities and social sciences on the academic site, this prestigious school places the study of subjects connected to the transformations of the contemporary world at the heart of its scientific approach, which in turn enriches its multidisciplinary training offer through innovative pedagogical experiences (RSO and BWS programs), partnership chairs, or events that highlight the latest scientific advances: the “Sciences Po Aix in the City” conference-debate cycle or the Franco-German Forum on the Mediterranean (organized with Iméra, CFAP, and the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation).
