Julien Freund


Julien Freund, born in Henridorff on 8 January 1921, died in Colmar, on the tenth of September 1993, is a French philosopher and sociologist. Freund was called an "unsatisfied liberal-conservative" by Pierre-André Taguieff, for introducing France to the ideas of Max Weber. His work as a sociologist and political theorist is a continuation of Carl Schmitt's. Freund was like many people born in this region fluent in German, and he therefore published many of his works in both languages. His works have been translated into nearly 20 languages.

Biography

Born in Henridorff on the eighth of January 1921, to a peasant mother and a socialist working class father, Freund was the eldest of six siblings. When his father died he had to end his studies, becoming a teacher at the age of 17, and secretary to the council in his hometown.
His brother Antoine, conscripted "malgré-nous" into the Wehrmacht, was injured in the battle of Orel in Russia and then deserted, which should have caused the deportation of his family who were aiding the resistance in Lorraine. However they were able to destroy the documents relating to their deportation held by the Gestapo.

The resistance

During World War II, Freund was a member of the resistance. A member of the Libération group founded by Jean Cavaillès, taken hostage by the Germans in July 1940, he then escapes to the free zone, and in January 1941, begins fighting for the Libération movement of Emmanuel d’Astier de la Vigerie, then in combat groups run by Henri Frenay, all the while getting his degree in philosophy.
Arrested in June 1942 in Clermont-Ferrand, then again in September in Lyon, he was accused alongside Emmanuel Mounier in the trial of Combat. Incarcerated in the central prison of Elysses, then in the fortress of Sisteron, he escapes on the 8th of June 1944. Returning to Strasbourg in November 1944, he becomes a journalist and political activist.

Academic career

He was a young teacher in Hommarting. He then became professor of philosophy in successively collège Mangin de Sarrebourg, lycée Fabert de Metz and lycée Fustel de Coulanges de Strasbourg. From 1960 to 1965, he was a head of research at CNRS. In 1965, the year of his thesis at Sorbonne, he is elected professor of sociology at the university of Strasboug, where he founded the departement of social sciences. He then taught from 1973 to 1975 at the College of Europe in Bruges, then in 1975 at université de Montréal.

Beliefs

Believing in limited democracy, Freund believed in limited and that growing democratisation corrodes the limits on government, allowing it to become ever more invasive. Politics cannot solve any cultural problems or impose concepts of value on society, and it should not be involved in religious affairs. However, religion also cannot impose upon the principles of democracy. He also draws attention to the corruption of language and the use of ruse in a democracy: "La démocratie se décompose quand elle dilapide la sincérité en démagogie et en flatterie".
His idea of "mesocracy" was first used by Freund in 1978, against the galvanising aspect of democracy, which he considered to be self-defeating. Mesocracy from its Greek roots, is a form of limiting power with a counter-power. Counter powers must limit power, which presupposes a constitution to ensure "liberté" liberty and freedom.
In a mesocracy, there is a natural separation of power, which prevents any uniform power. Freund maintain that politics must have a monopoly on violence to prevent civil war.

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