Villa Gillet - Rhône-Alpes - recherches contemporaines

After studying history and political science, Dominique Schnapper obtained a doctorate in sociology (1967) with a survey on Italy (L’Italie rouge et noire, Gallimard, 1971) and a doctorate in literature (1979). Her career has been spent at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, where she has been successively Head of department, senior lecturer and Director of Studies (1980). Since the late 1970s, her work has focused on the transformations of national and political relationships in democratic societies, which strive to reach equality for all members and ensure the welfare of individuals. Are "providential democracies" evolving into various forms of "communitisation”? Schnapper has been a member of the Constitutional Council since 2001. She was awarded the Balzan Foundation Prize for lifetime achievement in sociology in 2002. She holds an honorary doctorate from McGill University in Montreal (2006).