The Mouvement anti-utilitariste dans les sciences sociales ("Anti-utilitarian Movement in the Social Sciences") is a French intellectual movement.
/ref> It is based around the ideology of "anti-

utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

", a critique of

economism Economism is a direct reduction of any political or cultural phenomena or activities to economics. In particular, "economism" was a movement in early Russian Social Democratic Labour Party whose position was that the workers' struggle must be on ...

in social sciences and instrumental rationalism in moral and

political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

. The movement was founded in 1981 by sociologist Alain Caillé, with the establishment of its interdisciplinary monthly journal ''Revue du MAUSS'' which is still published and edited by Caillé. The journal covers topics in economics, anthropology, sociology and political philosophy from an anti-utilitarian perspective. His name is both an acronym and a tribute to the famous anthropologist

Marcel Mauss Marcel Israël Mauss (; 10 May 1872 – 10 February 1950) was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociolo ...

. The movement works to promote a third paradigm, as a complement to, or replacement for

holism Holism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. Julian Tudor Hart (2010''The Political Economy of Health Care''pp.106, 258 The aphorism "The whole is greater than t ...

and

methodological individualism In the social sciences, methodological individualism is a method for explaining social phenomena strictly in terms of the decisions of individuals, each being moved by their own personal motivations. In contrast, explanations of social phenomen ...

.Michèle Richman. 2002. The French Sociological Revolution from Montaigne to Mauss. SubStance. Vol. 31, No. 1, Issue 97: Special Issue: The American Production of French Theory (2002), pp. 27-35 The movement began through conversations between Caillé and Swiss anthropologist Gerald Berthoud wondering why the economic theory of

based on obligatory reciprocity and debt did not provide any possibilities of a "free gift" motivated by empathy rather than rational self-interest. The movement's early efforts considered the possibility of reintroducing an aspect of genuine interest in the welfare of others in economic theory. Among the economic policies suggested by the movement is the

basic income guarantee Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform work. I ...

a concept originally developed by

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...

Some regular contributors to the journal

* Paul Jorion * Paul Ariès * Genevieve Azam * Gerald Berthoud * Alain Caillé * Philippe Chanial * Jacques Dewitte *

Mary Douglas Dame Mary Douglas, (25 March 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture, symbolism and risk, whose area of speciality was social anthropology. Douglas was considered a follower of Émile Durkhei ...

* Denis Duclos * Jean-Pierre Dupuy * Michel Freitag * Marcel Gauchet * Philippe d'Iribarne * Stephen Kalberg * Serge Latouche * Louis Maitrier * Jean-Claude Michéa * Thierry Paquot * Lucien Scubla * Camille Tarot * Frederic Vandenberghe *

Raoul Vaneigem Raoul Vaneigem (; ; ; born 21 March 1934) is a Belgian writer known for his 1967 book ''The Revolution of Everyday Life''. Biography Vaneigem was born in Lessines (in Hainaut Province, Hainaut, Belgium) and studied romance philology at the Fre ...

* Jean-Pierre Voyer

References

Schools of economic thought Philosophical schools and traditions Great Recession in Europe Political movements 21st-century social movements Modern art Organizations established in 1981 1981 establishments in France Far-left politics in France Contemporary French history Critical theory {{intell-hist-stub