Jean-Claude Passeron (born 26 November 1930) is a French sociologist and leader of

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

studies. As part of a mixed interdisciplinary team involving sociologists,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

s, and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

s, he led the magazine ''Enquêtes''.

Biography

In Paris, Jean-Claude Passeron studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and sociology at

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

. During the 1960s, he and

Pierre Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu (, ; ; ; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influ ...

did two studies of the

sociology of education The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual experiences affect education and its outcomes. It is mostly concerned with the public schooling systems of modern industrial societies, including the expansion of ...

. With Jean-Claude Chamboredon and Bourdieu, he published ''Le Métier de sociologue'', a reference work and

epistemology Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...

work of the social sciences on

cultural reproduction Cultural reproduction, a concept first developed by French sociologist and cultural theorist Pierre Bourdieu, Jenks, Christopher. 1993. "Cultural Reproduction." New York: Routledge. p. 2. Bourdieu, Pierre, and Jean-Claude Passeron. 1990. ''Repr ...

. He led the sociology department at l'Université de Nantes, going often to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to lead studies. In 1968, he was part of the group which founded le Centre Universitaire Expérimental de Vincennes, an

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

pedagogic project that today has become l'Université Paris VIII. He also worked with Jean-Claude Chamboredon,

Robert Castel Robert Castel (1 August 1933 – 12 March 2013) was a French sociologist and researcher at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales. Academic career Castel was born in Saint-Pierre-Quilbignon, now part of Brest. He initially studi ...

, Claude Grignon, Michel Grumbach and François de Singly. He studied the sociology of culture and the sociology of the arts. In 1991, he published ''Le Raisonnement sociologique'', a book which had an impact on epistemology of the social sciences.

Publications

* with Pierre Bourdieu and Michel Eliard, Les Étudiants et leurs études, Paris, La Haye, Mouton, « Cahiers du centre de sociologie Européenne. sociologie de l'éducation », 1, 1964. * with Pierre Bourdieu, Les Héritiers. ''Les étudiants et la culture'', Paris, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1964. * with Gérald Antoine, La Réforme de l'Université. Conservatisme et novation à l'Université, avant-propos de Raymond Aron, Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1966. * with Robert Castel, Éducation, développement et démocratie. Algérie, Espagne, France, Grèce, Hongrie, Italie, Pays arabes, Yougoslavie, études présentées par Robert Castel, Jean-Claude Passeron, Paris - La Haye, Mouton, « Cahiers du Centre de sociologie européenne », 4, 1967. * with Pierre Bourdieu et Jean-Claude Chamboredon, Le Métier de sociologue, préalables épistémologiques, Paris, Mouton - Bordas, 1968. * with Claude Grignon, Expériences françaises avant 1968, Études de cas sur l'innovation dans l'enseignement supérieur, Paris, OCDE, 1970. * translation with Françoise et Jean-Claude Garcias and presentation by Richard Hoggart, La Culture du pauvre. Étude sur le style de vie des classes populaires en Angleterre (The Uses of literacy), Paris, Éditions de Minuit, « Le sens commun », 1970. * with Pierre Bourdieu, La Reproduction. Éléments pour une théorie du système d'enseignement, Paris, Éditions de Minuit, « Le sens commun », 1970. * presentation of Joseph Schumpeter, Impérialisme et classes sociales, traduction de Suzanne de Segonzac et Pierre Bresson, revue et présentée par Jean-Claude Passeron, Paris, Éditions de Minuit, « Le sens commun », 1972 * Les Mots de la sociologie, Nantes, Université de Nantes, 1980. * with Michel Grumbach, L'Œil à la page : enquête sur les images et les bibliothèques, Paris, Bibliothèque Publique d’Information, 1985. * with Claude Grignon, Le Savant et le populaire, misérabilisme et populisme en sociologie et en littérature, Paris, Seuil - Gallimard, 1989. * with E. Pedler, Le Temps donné aux tableaux, Marseille, IMEREC, 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passeron, Jean-Claude 1930 births Living people French sociologists École Normale Supérieure alumni French male writers Academic staff of Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis