The issue of immigration today provokes polarized divisions reminiscent of those that ran through French society during the Dreyfus Affair. In such a context, what are the challenges met by publishers who carry the voices of intellectuals and progressives of our time, who popularize social science research to create an awareness that a world more concerned with gender equality and social justice is not only possible but desirable?

To better understand the deep and constant commitment of these publishing professionals, we are honored to welcome Chloé Pathé, founder and director of Anamosa Editions, and Dan Simon, director of Seven Stories Editions.

Based on two recent successes of Anamosa Editions — En transit by Céline Regnard, and On ne peut pas accueillir toute la misère du monde. En finir avec une sentence de mort. by Pierre Tevanian and Jean-Charles Stevens — our guests will talk about their mission and the challenges they face.

In En transit, historian Céline Regnard traces the migration of the Syrian-Lebanese population at the end of the 19th century, focusing on the time of the journey, its places, moments of waiting, and multiple actors. Céline Regnard highlights a multiplicity of points of view: from empathy to concern — and how the Syrians also produce representations of themselves and others in these moments of passage. Though these experiences may seem very far away in time, they still strongly resonate with our present; at borders where controls are reinforced, crossings are extensively prolonged and become dead ends or retentions.

Faced with the inward-looking attitude of the Western world, the essay by the jurist Jean-Charles Stevens and philosopher and activist Pierre Tevanian, On ne peut pas accueillir toute la misère du monde, demonstrates — with arguments, figures, and references — how necessary it is to reaffirm hospitality.

The meeting/dialogue will also be attended by historian Thomas W. Dodman (Columbia University), a member of the editorial board of Sensibilités, the social science journal published by Anamosa, whose latest issue, Insensibilités, also resonates strongly with contemporary concerns.

Chloé Pathé is the editorial director of Anamosa Editions

Daniel Simon is the founder and publisher of Seven Stories Press. He is the co-author, with Jack Hoffman, of Run Run Run: The Lives of Abbie Hoffman and translator of Van Gogh: Self Portraits by Pascal Bonafoux.

Thomas W. Dodman is a historian of modern France and its empire. Member of the editorial board of the French journal Sensibilités: histoire, critique & sciences sociales. His first book is What Was Nostalgia: War, Empire, and the Time of a Deadly Emotion (Chicago, 2018). He has also co-edited two volumes: Une Histoire de la Guerre, du XIXe siècle à nos jours, (Editions du Seuil, 2018) and Controverses sur l’émotion, (Anamosa, 2018).

This event will be in English. It is free with RSVP.