SOCIOLOGIST - PHILOSOPHER

France

Biography

A sociologist and philosopher, Dominique Méda is currently a sociology professor at the University of Paris Dauphine, after having been director of research at the Study and Employment Center. A graduate of École normale supérieure and École nationale d’administration, holder of a teaching credential in philosophy, and authorized to direct research in sociology, she was formerly a professor at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris. She is also a General Inspector in the Ministry of Social Affairs. After beginning her career in the General Inspection department, Méda led research in the department of the Ministry of Labor and Employment specialized in statistics, studies and research while simultaneously publishing and acting as director of a collection. Her works have left their mark on the sociology of labor in France and Europe, and set off extensive public debate. She has conducted numerous research projects on the relationship to work and the meaning of work. She has also worked on issues of equality between women and men at work. Her recent works are devoted to the place of women in employment, particularly in Scandinavia.

More generally, Dominique Méda questions the relationship between economy and politics and the instruments with which we measure the wealth of a society. In 1999, she published Qu’est-ce que la richesse? (Aubier then Champs-Flammarion), in which she highlights the limits of the gross domestic product as an indicator of social wealth and suggests a policy of civilization based on a new concept of wealth and progress, and new indicators. In line with this line of thought, she is one of the founding members of the Forum for Other Indicators of Wealth (FAIR), which was created when the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission on economic and social progress performance measures was established. Since then, Méda has begun thinking about the shift from an economy of quantity to an economy of quality. How can we envision prosperity without growth, with what new definitions and distribution of wealth? How can we turn ecological constraints into a fantastic opportunity to transform the economic system and labor relations so that everyone has a decent job? 

La Mystique de la croissance. Comment s'en libérer. (Flammarion, 2013)
Réinventer le travail, avec Patricia Vendramin (PUF, 2013)