Watch Season 2 of our video series FOCUS!

News passes, ideas stay. FOCUS is Sciences Po’s video series that sheds light on current affairs. In each episode, a researcher or professor explores a topical issue related to his or her field of expertise from an unexpected angle. In three minutes, FOCUS offers an out-of-the-box reflection on the issues that drive public debate and proposes perspectives for understanding and acting.

Public speaking: A tool to combat inequalities

“Tell me how you speak, and I will tell you who you are”: Public speaking skills, a strong social marker, can generate inequalities. Bertrand Périer, professor of public speaking at Sciences Po, advocates for more public speaking opportunities in school and defends the Grand Oral evaluation of the Baccalauréat, a "free exam".

Learn more:

• Watch the 2021 best of the Philippe Seguin public speaking competition (fr)
• The Sciences Po Writing and Rhetoric Centre

US Law imposed around the world?

Professor of political science Cornelia Woll examines the extraterritoriality of American law, that extends beyond the United States via a form of 'negotiated justice'. This power on an international scale raises questions of legal sovereignty.

Learn more:

• The Sciences Po Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics

The price of a life

How to calculate the price of a life? Ariel Colonomos, Director of Research at the CNRS and the CERI-Sciences Po, explains it in his book Un prix à la vie : le défi politique de la juste mesure ("A price to life: the political challenge of fairness): in politics, we can be brought to balance interests with human lives. These preferences have been revealed clearly by the reactions to the Covid-19 crisis.

Learn more:

• Read Un prix à la vie : le défi politique de la juste mesure (FR)
• The Sciences Po Center for International Studies

The come-back of Made in France?

Reshoring, reindustrialisation, "made in France": the Covid-19 crisis has stirred up opinions about economic patriotism. Sarah Guillou, Director of the Sciences Po OFCE's Innovation and Competition Department, explores the issue of economic sovereignty.

Learn more:

• Rewatch the conference of 17 May 2021 on French digital sovereignty (FR)

Bedtime stories to combat school inequalities

Reading to children regularly can positively influence their future success at school. This informal learning opportunity can be a cause of inequality from a young age. Sociology professor Carlo Barone advocates a more explicit pedagogy to encourage parental reading.

FOCUS // Bedtime stories to combat school inequalities - Carlo Barone from Sciences Po on Vimeo.

Learn more:

• Read the Policy Brief "Shared reading: a lever for reducing educational inequalities?" (FR)

The Illusion of a Democratic Internet

Who has the power online? According to Jen Schradie, Assistant Professor at the Sociological Observatory of Change (OSC), social media is far from being a democratic space. Faced with the inequalities of access revealed by the health crisis, she explores the importance of returning to basics, starting with simple internet access.

Learn more:

• The Sciences Po Sociological Observatory of Change

The Protective State: Unprecedented Measures

Faced with the exogenous shock of the health crisis, the State has deployed unprecedented resources to protect households and businesses. This protectionism is necessary to avoid a sharp increase in poverty, argues Philippe Martin, professor of Economics and President of the Conseil d'Analyse Économique.

Learn more:

• The Sciences Po Department of Economics

Discriminations in Banking

Are bank customers received differently depending on their skin colour? These are the findings of a survey conducted among others by sociologist Jeanne Lazarus (CNRS, CSO). It points to clear discrimination in bank branches.

Learn more:

• The Centre for the Sociology of Organisations