Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po)

From the wearing of the abaya in schools to the dissolution of religious associations and the debate on secularism… current events provide us with numerous examples showing that the law has become the primary arena for debate on the role of religion. It is up to the law to define religion, to set its boundaries, and to determine its legitimate forms and acceptable expressions. This course provides a better understanding of this contemporary demand placed on the law and its professionals (legislators, judges, legal experts, etc.) by tracing the major stages in the establishment of religion as a legal subject. To this end, the course clarifies the interactions between law and the social sciences within the various frameworks (sociological, historical, anthropological) for understanding the relationship between law and religion; draws conclusions regarding the various legal regimes applicable to religion (in France, North America, and European case law); and examines these dynamics in action through several case studies (wearing religious symbols in school, Pastafarianism, circumcision).

With the dual objective of introducing contemporary political philosophy and reflecting on often heated public controversies, this course focuses on the challenges posed by pluralism, as it is, in fact and in law, an essential characteristic of liberal democratic societies. First, it studies how the state and public institutions can manage the antagonistic plurality of worldviews and conceptions of the good, focusing on three models: tolerance, recognition, and the governance of diversity. The course then asks on what basis it is possible to reach agreement in a context of pluralism. Is it possible to reach public agreement while respecting the disagreements and even conflicts that are an inevitable manifestation of pluralism? Or is it not the very nature of a pluralistic democracy to break with any quest for unanimity, or even consensus? Finally, the course analyzes the concrete challenges that arise when pluralism is taken into account in different areas of public policy: moral and civic education, the management of religious diversity (secularism), the integration of foreigners (from reception to naturalization), and European integration as embodied by the EU. From these different angles, the course considers what a liberal-democratic citizenship that takes pluralism seriously, both in theory and in practice, would consist of.

Combining theory and practice of international relations, this course is designed to provide a solid understanding of the trajectory of both conceptualizations and policies on sovereignty in the global stage. The variety of classes focus on multiple aspects of strategic diplomacy in the global commons - outer space, air space, cyber space, maritime space and polar space - to understand expressions of sovereignty outside of territories under national jurisdiction, a topic of crucial importance for the coming century. As this course breaks barriers between academia and practice, students are equally trained to write argumentative essays (French academic exercise of dissertation) and research papers as well as policy papers, while being introduced to the art of diplomatic negotiation.

Can Turkey's internal contradictions prevent it from fulfilling its ambition to become a major power? Although it remains weakened by certain internal divisions, Turkey seems to be successfully transforming itself on the international stage, moving from the status of a marginal power to that of a regional power. This course analyzes the drivers of this transformation, asking how far this ambition could take Ankara, between disenchantment (falling into line) and real change (global influence). The course covers essential knowledge about Turkey and its place in the new global order; builds critical analysis and synthesis skills by confronting sometimes opposing ideas or divergent opinions (e.g., by studying texts that present different points of view on the same subject); and practices constructing, producing, and writing a press article.

Art and cultural heritage is not only a tool to express the creative value of an artist, of a community, of a movement, it is also inundated and steered by a complex set of legal rules and institutions. Art Law has been quipped as a quixotic way of navigating through concepts from contracts, property, and taxation to deeper, ethical issues such as moral rights, the levity of ethnic repatriation, and memorialization. This course surveys an expanse of topics to serve as an introduction into both art and cultural property law. It traverses the intersectionality of art, culture, and international law in topics as varied from Nazi looted art, generative AI, capitalism in the art market, institutional actors such as auction houses and museums, culture in times of war, and modes of dispute resolution. This course simulates a moot court, on a fictional looted art case. Prior knowledge and artistic inclination is not required for this course (but passion is preferred).

Since 2022, the departure of French troops from the Sahel has marked the end of large-scale military operations that proved to be strategic failures for France. Among the criticisms leveled at political and military leaders, one recurring accusation is that they acted like a colonial power. To what extent did this “colonial legacy” influence the military intervention in the Sahel? What role did more recent legacies play (decolonization wars, “Françafrique” military cooperation, counterterrorism)? This course investigates these legacies by studying French officers' representations of African societies, Islam and jihad, and racial and ethnic categorizations. The sessions are organized around surveys and presentations by students and discussions with journalists and researchers in history and political science.

This course explores the Holocaust from different perspectives: the various stages of the Nazi persecution and extermination of Jews; Jewish voices, experiences and agency; and the attitude of the surrounding non-Jewish population towards the Holocaust. Thus, the course introduces what the historian Saul Freidländer called an “integrated history of the Holocaust”, taking into account perpetrators, Jewish victims and the surrounding societies. The geographical focus is on Eastern Europe, where almost all of the Holocaust killings had taken place. The course explores different types of sources and historiographical approaches: every-day life, cultural history, gender history, micro-history. The last sessions of the course explore how different societies coped with the memory of the Holocaust and the difficult past, examining Poland, France, and Israel.

This course introduces contemporary issues in democratic theory and philosophy and public policy. It draws on political and moral philosophy as well as philosophy of law in order to examine the philosophical underpinnings of contemporary political debates over civil rights and liberties, democratic institutions and procedures, inequality and disadvantage and human rights. It combines the study of contemporary philosophy with analysis of particular cases, through a mixture of academic articles, newspaper articles, public policy reports and recently published works by distinguished academics.

This course bridges feminist theory, legal studies, and political economy to provide a multidimensional understanding of how gender structures economic and legal systems. It complements existing offerings in political theory, law, and gender studies by integrating critical perspectives on care, welfare, and neoliberalism with emerging debates on digital capitalism and global governance. Drawing on feminist, queer, and postcolonial scholarship, it explores how gender is not merely shaped by legal and economic systems but is fundamentally constitutive of them. The syllabus is designed to be intellectually rigorous yet accessible to undergraduates from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, progressively introducing theoretical frameworks and applying them to concrete economic and policy issues. Indeed, the course investigates how care and reproductive labor sustain markets and states; how institutions of property, finance, and welfare define economic citizenship; and how global processes—including colonialism, migration, and development—reproduce gendered hierarchies. The course also addresses the gendered dynamics of digital capitalism, exploring how contemporary technological infrastructures and platform economies shape labor, value, and power. Through close reading of legal and theoretical texts, class discussions, and media materials, the course connects historical and contemporary debates on work, welfare, sexuality, and governance. It interrogates the ways legal regimes define economic citizenship, moral worth, and bodily autonomy, while also considering feminist strategies for resistance, redistribution, and transformation. By linking feminist thought to law and political economy, the course equips students with conceptual and analytical tools to critically engage with law as both a site of domination and potential social change.

This course provides an introduction to some of the main questions and ideas in development economics. It is designed as a less technical alternative to ECON 118 DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS. Broadly speaking, the course tries to answer two questions: why are some countries (and within countries, some people) poor, and what can be done about it? It covers conceptual frameworks and empirical evidence. It adopts a micro and a macro perspective and discusses the role of different actors, from households to firms to governments. The course covers a wide range of issues, from communicable diseases to gender inequality to environmental degradation.