Amaury GIRAUD

Career history

• 2026–2028: Postdoctoral Researcher, Illiberalism Studies Program (ILLSP), George Washington University (GWU).
• 2024–2025: Research Fellow, Institut Montaigne.
• 2022–2024: Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Montpellier.
• 2016–2021: PhD Political Science under the supervision of Eric Savarese (advisor) and Alexandre Viala (co-advisor): “Reflecting on Left-Wing Conservatism: Genesis, History, Current Relevance, and Paradigmatic Continuities of a Unique Political Philosophy.” Thesis defended on December 14, 2021; jury members: Professor Patrick Troude-Chastenet (rapporteur), Professor Eric Desmons (rapporteur), Professor Bruno Daugeron (jury chair), and Assistant Professor Alexandre Dézé (examiner).
• Since 2017: Writing articles for *Le Figaro Culture* and *Usbek & Rica*
• 2014: Internship at *Le Monde des livres* (writing articles and attending editorial meetings).
• 2013: Internship at the “Rencontres de Pétrarque” in partnership with the University of Montpellier and France Culture (interviews with Joseph Zimet, Bernard Kouchner, Anne Nivat, and Olivier Christen; co-authoring of thematic features published on the France Culture website: “History(ies) of Terrorism” and “Book Review of Grégoire Chamayou’sThéorie du drone ”).

Lessons

• 2022–2024: First semester – Seminars in Introduction to Political Science (Freshman year) and Political Communication (Sophomore year) / University of Montpellier
• Second Semester – Lecture Course in the History of Sociology with Seminar Sessions (Bachelor’s Level) / University of Montpellier / Syllabus: Marcel Mauss, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Louis Dumont, Cornelius Castoriadis, Claude Lefort, Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Jean Baudrillard, Zygmunt Bauman, Alain Caillé, Serge Latouche, MarcelGauchet…etc.
• Second Semester – Lecture Course in General Culture: “Literature and Politics” (L2) / University of Montpellier / Syllabus: The Gods Are Thirsty by Anatole France (1912), The Conversation by Jean d’Ormesson (2011), Eat Him If You Want by Jean Teulé (2009), Cannibal by Didier Daeninckx (1998), Éric Vuillard’s *L’ordre du jour* (2017), Georges Bernanos’s *Les grands cimetières sous la lune* (1938), George Orwell’s *Homage to Catalonia* (1938), George Orwell’s *1984* (1949), Emmanuel Carrère’s *Limonov* (2011)…etc.
• 2021–2022: Teaching Assistant in the History of Political Thought in the 20th Century (Supervisor: Marie Goupy) / Institut Catholique de Paris / Curriculum: Georg Simmel, Carl Schmitt, Hannah Arendt, Claude Lefort, Friedrich Hayek, Leo Strauss, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Charles Taylor, Edward Said, Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, PhilippeDescola…etc.
• 2018–2019: Teaching Assistant for Constitutional Law of the Fifth Republic (Instructor: Eric Sales) and Sociology of Journalism (Instructor: Antoine Guiral) / University of Montpellier

Thesis summary

In recent years, a new form of critical thinking seems to be emerging among the intellectual left in France, Europe, and even the United States. Drawing primarily on a Marxist analytical framework, a number of essayists and public figures are attempting, work after work, speech after speech, to develop an interpretation of the world that, in many respects, embodies the characteristics of a conservative ideology. To attempt to understand and elucidate the mechanisms driving this hypothetical “movement,” as well as to trace its historical and philosophical trajectory, we will draw upon numerous authors such as Charles Péguy, Simone Weil, George Orwell, Michel Clouscard, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Régis Debray, Jaime Semprun, Christopher Lasch, Jean-Claude Michéa, Paul Ariès, Michel Onfray, Denis Collin, Alain Finkielkraut, and many others. Although the question of the existence of a conservative left will serve as the central theme of our study, we will also undertake an analysis of conservative anti-liberalism, which we will contrast here with progressive anti-liberalism.

Degrees

• 2021: PhD Political Science / University of Montpellier
• 2015: Master’s Degree in “Philosophy of Law and Political Law” / Paris-II Panthéon-Assas University (Thesis: “On the Views of Certain Intellectuals Regarding the Identity of Europe, or the Multitude of Opinions”).
• 2014: Master’s Degree in Political Science / Paris-I Panthéon-Sorbonne University (Thesis: “Jean-Claude Michéa and Anti-Liberal Intransigence: Inspirations, Arguments, and Controversies”).
• 2013: Bachelor’s degree in Political Science / University of Montpellier I.
• 2012: Associate Degree in Law / University of Montpellier I.

Published Works

• Amaury GIRAUD, Thinking About Conservatism on the Left – Between Anti-Modern Socialism, Democratic Populism, and Criticism of Progress, Bordeaux, Editions Le Bord de L’eau, 2024.

Articles published in academic journals

• GIRAUD, Amaury, “On ‘Sharp Power’ in the Transcaucasus—Baku and the French Overseas Territories, or the Prototypical Case of Open Interference,” *L’Année des relations internationales* ( AFRI, University of Paris II – Panthéon-Assas), July 2025 
• GIRAUD, Amaury,“From the Hope of an Idealized Social Republic to Its Constitutional Realization,” Constitutional Issues(Proceedings of the Symposium “The Social Constitution” held on November 22, 2024, at the University of Montpellier), March 9, 2025
• GIRAUD, Amaury, “The Second Birth of Christopher Lasch in France: Roots and Mechanisms of a Posthumous Success,” Journal of Illiberalism Studies ( George Washington University), 4, no. 2 (Summer 2024), pp. 21–31
• GIRAUD, Amaury, “The Legal Formalism of Appearance in SimoneWeil’s *L’enracinement*(London, 1943),”*Droits*, 2022/2 (No. 76), pp. 183–197.

Other publications

• Bruno CAUTRÈS and Blanche LERIDON (eds.), Amaury GIRAUD (Rapporteur), “Democracy: New Paths to Civic Engagement,” Institut Montaigne, January 28, 2026
• GIRAUD, Amaury, “From Socialism to ‘Societalism’—Genealogy, Trajectories, and Implications of a Doctrinal Shift on the Western Left,” in “ The ‘Third Left’: An Inquiry into the Post-Societal Turn of the European Left,” Jean Jaurès Foundation, June 26, 2025
• GIRAUD, Amaury, “With the Death of Pierre Legendre, a Light Goes Out in the Modern Night,” Le Figaro, 2023.
• Amaury GIRAUD, “War and Ecology: How the French and U.S. Military Are Addressing the Climate Emergency,” Usbek & Rica, 2022.
• Amaury GIRAUD, “The Intellectual Origins and Historical Milestones of an Informal Political Movement,” AFSP Conference, 2019.
• Amaury GIRAUD,“The idea of a connection between the upper classes and minorities is an illusion,” Interview with Christophe Guilluy, Usbek & Rica, October 28, 2018.
• GIRAUD, Amaury, “Modernity According to Yves Michaud,” Review of the book*Narcisse et ses avatars* (Yves Michaud, Grasset, 2014, 208 pp.), *Le Monde*, July 2, 2014.
• GIRAUD, Amaury, “Napoleon’s Contemporaries,” Review of the book*Napoleon: As Told by Those Who Knew Him* (Arthur Chevallier, Grasset, 2014, 352 pp.), *Le Monde des livres*, June 20, 2014.
• Amaury GIRAUD, “Anarchic Law,” Review of the book*The Unity of Law* (Rainer Maria Kiesow, Editions de l’EHESS, 2014, 238 pp.), *Le Monde des livres*, June 13, 2014.
• CALLIS, Alexandra, and GIRAUD, Amaury, “Stories of Terrorism,” France Culture, July 8, 2013.
• CALLIS, Alexandra, and GIRAUD, Amaury, “Book Review: *The Theory of the Drone* by Grégoire Chamayou,” France Culture, July 8, 2013.

Attendance at conferences

“Is there such a thing as left-wing conservatism? ”, Session 26 of the AFSP Congress in July 2019 at Sciences Po Bordeaux.