''Commentaire'' is a French quarterly magazine, created in 1978 by

Raymond Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; ; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. Aron is best known for his ...

and

Jean-Claude Casanova Jean-Claude Casanova (born 11 June 1934 in Ajaccio) is a French economist, educator and public intellectual with a lifetime involvement in French civic life. He was the chairman of the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques between 2007 a ...

. Aron's previous journal venture, started in 1970 and titled ''Contrepoint'', had been terminated in 1976 following disagreements among its founders and its owner Patrick Devedjian. In a wide-ranging 2008 interview, Casanova described the decision to create Commentaire as having been made in late 1977 and involving, besides Aron and himself, a group of common friends that included

Annie Kriegel Annie Kriegel ( Annie Becker; 9 September 1926 – 26 August 1995) was a French historian, a leading expert on communist studies and the history of Communism, a cofounder (1982) of the academic journal '' Communisme'' (with Stéphane Courtois), ...

Jean Baechler Jean Baechler, born 28 March 1937 in Thionville (Moselle (department), Moselle) and died 13 August 2022 in Draveil, was a French academic and Sociology, sociologist.. Full professor and later emeritus of Historical sociology at the Sorbonne, he ...

Alain Besançon Alain Besançon (; 25 April 1932 – 9 July 2023) was a French historian. He specialised in intellectual history and Russian politics. From 1965 to 1992 he was director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris. ...

, , and . The journal's motto, a quote from

Pericles Pericles (; ; –429 BC) was a Greek statesman and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Ancient Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and was acclaimed ...

, was suggested by Papaioannou: ''Il n’y a pas de bonheur sans liberté, ni de liberté sans vaillance'' ("there can be neither happiness without liberty, nor liberty without courage").

Pierre Manent Pierre Manent (; born 6 May 1949) is a French political scientist and academic. He teaches political philosophy at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, in the Centre de recherches politiques Raymond Aron. Every autumn, he is also ...

was the author of a manifesto explaining the journal's purpose in the first issue. Among the journal's avowedly liberal inspirations, Casanova cited

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principal so ...

Benjamin Constant Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss and French political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion. A committed republican from 1795, Constant ...

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 180516 April 1859), was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works ''Democracy in America'' (appearing in t ...

Élie Halévy Élie Halévy (; 6 September 1870 – 21 August 1937) was a French philosopher and historian who wrote studies of the British utilitarians, the book of essays '' Era of Tyrannies'', and a history of Britain from 1815 to 1914 that influenced Bri ...

, and Aron himself. The journal relies largely on volunteer work and a small administrative staff. In 2008, it printed 6,000 copies and had 3,800 subscribers, the rest being sold in bookstores and news shops. A specific feature is the abundance of selected quotes in each of the journal's issues. A section titled ''sans commentaire'' ("no comment") includes involuntary comical quotes, often from political leaders or ideological commentators. In 2017, ''Commentaire'' made all its past published articles available online. Like its center-left peer ''Esprit'', it is self-published and not dependent on a large publishing house.

Affiliates

As of early 2021, Commentaire's website mentioned two circles of affiliates (including past and deceased ones): * Editorial Board (''Conseil de rédaction''): , , Guy Berger,

Jean-Louis Bourlanges Jean-Louis Bourlanges (; born 13 July 1946) is a French politician who represented the 12th constituency of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the National Assembly from 2017 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), he presided over ...

, Nathalie Delapalme, Gilles Étrillard, Marc Fumaroli,

, George de Ménil, ,

François Sureau François Sureau (; born 19 September 1957) is a French writer, lawyer and technocrat. He was born in the 14th arrondissement of Paris and educated at the École nationale d'administration (ENA). He is a co-founder and co-director of the French R ...

, Philippe Trainar, Michel Zink * Editorial Committee (''Comité de rédaction''): Cédric Argenton,

, Guillaume Barrera,

Karol Beffa Karol Beffa, born on in Paris, is a French and Swiss composer and pianist. Biography Beffa is the son of French-Swiss linguist and ethnologist Marie-Lise Beffa and French linguist , and the nephew of industrialist Jean-Louis Beffa. He studie ...

, Jacques Bille, Dominique Bocquet, Michel Bourdeau, , Christopher Caldwell, Gwendal Châton, Laurent Cohen-Tanugi, Benedetta Craveri,

Jean-Marc Daniel Jean-Marc Daniel (born 26 April) is a French Economist, Professor at ESCP Business School and editorial Director of ''Societal'' magazine. He describes himself as a classic liberal. He is a Columnist for the newspaper ''Le Monde'' (on the histor ...

, , , Michel Duclos, Bruno Durieux, Vincent Feré, Louis de Fouchécour, , Jean Gatty, François Gorand, Donatien Grau, Sylviane Guillaumont, Patrick Guillaumont, Michel Gurfinkiel, , Pierre Hassner, Jean-Vincent Holeindre, , , Pierre Kende,

, , Armand Laferrère, Guillaume Lagane,

Mathieu Laine Mathieu Laine (; born 9 April 1975) is a French entrepreneur and intellectual. He is the founder and head of Altermind, a boutique consultancy firm based in Paris, London, Brussels and Berlin. Laine is an affiliate professor at Sciences Po Pa ...

, Vincent Laloy, Alain Lancelot, Alain Laurent, Tristan Lecoq, , Didier Maillard, Béatrice Majnoni d'Intignano, Sophie-Caroline de Margerie,

Hervé Mariton Hervé Marie David Mariton (; born 5 November 1958) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Crest since 1995. A member of The Republicans, he was elected to the National Assembly for the third constituency of Drôme from 1993 to 1997 and ag ...

, François de Mazières, Paul Mentré, Christophe Mercier,

Thierry de Montbrial Thierry de Montbrial (; born 3 March 1943) is the executive chairman of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), which he founded in 1979. He is also the founder and chairman of the World Policy Conference (WPC), which he create ...

, , , Benoît Pellistrandi, Rémy Prud'Homme, , Pierre Rigoulot, Hervé Robert,

Giuseppe Sacco Giuseppe Sacco (born 1 August 1938) is a tenured Italian academic specialised in international relations, with secondary interests in the fields of international economic relations, industrial and science and technology policy, international oil, ...

, ,

Maryvonne de Saint-Pulgent Maryvonne is a French feminine given name. It is a portmanteau of Marie and Yvonne. List of people with the given name * Maryvonne Blondin (born 1947), French politician * Maryvonne Briot (born 1959), French politician * Maryvonne Dupureur (19 ...

, ,

Dominique Schnapper Dominique Schnapper (born 9 November 1934) was a member of the Constitutional Council of France from 2001 to 2010. She is also a scholar and professor of sociology. Her sociological studies have been largely historical and have ranged from inq ...

, Antoine Schnapper, Mark Sherringham, Christine Sourgins, , , Éric Thiers,

Françoise Thom Françoise Thom (born 1951) is a French historian and Sovietologist, honorary lecturer in contemporary history at Paris-Sorbonne University. A specialist in post-communist Russia, she is the author of works of political analysis on the country and ...

Nicolas Véron Nicolas Véron () is a French economist. He is a senior fellow at Bruegel in Brussels, which he co-founded in 2002–05, and at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC, which he joined in 2009. In 2012, he was included ...

, Jean-Philippe Vincent,

Notes

{{Reflist 1978 establishments in France Magazines established in 1978 Quarterly magazines published in France

Affiliates

See also

Notes