Damien Gimenez
@dgi246.bsky.social
I’ve stepped back to question our economic, political and ethical frameworks—writing long-form essays & explorations to shape big pictures.
Main orientations: freedom of thought, distance, peace.
damiengimenez.fr/home
Main orientations: freedom of thought, distance, peace.
damiengimenez.fr/home
R. Whatmore offers a timely intellectual and political history of the late 18th c., centred on Britain and France: mercantilism & empires vs liberalism, fanaticism vs moderation, luxury & corruption vs political principles.
Do we need a new #Enlightenment?
Do we need a new #Enlightenment?
January 27, 2026 at 8:59 AM
R. Whatmore offers a timely intellectual and political history of the late 18th c., centred on Britain and France: mercantilism & empires vs liberalism, fanaticism vs moderation, luxury & corruption vs political principles.
Do we need a new #Enlightenment?
Do we need a new #Enlightenment?
#Trumpism is a symptom of a civilisational shift linked to the centrality of the #economy in Western societies. That centrality—combined with global competition, gradual slowdown, automation, and rising inequality—fuels far-right movements.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
Trump is a Symptom, not the Disease - Damien Gimenez
Since the inauguration of Trump’s second term a year ago, the world has shifted: instead of making America great again, his arbitrary and often violent measures have made the country look increasingly...
damiengimenez.fr
January 25, 2026 at 12:36 PM
#Trumpism is a symptom of a civilisational shift linked to the centrality of the #economy in Western societies. That centrality—combined with global competition, gradual slowdown, automation, and rising inequality—fuels far-right movements.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
The US economy has been gradually slowing down since around 2005, and Big Tech isn’t reversing the trend—as I show here:
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
January 21, 2026 at 6:36 AM
The US economy has been gradually slowing down since around 2005, and Big Tech isn’t reversing the trend—as I show here:
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
From the start, US #equality was Janus-faced: universal in language, exclusionary in practice. Middlekauf shows how ‘created equal’ coexisted with slavery and the denial of rights to free Blacks. Today’s politics still echoes that unresolved contradiction.
January 20, 2026 at 11:50 AM
From the start, US #equality was Janus-faced: universal in language, exclusionary in practice. Middlekauf shows how ‘created equal’ coexisted with slavery and the denial of rights to free Blacks. Today’s politics still echoes that unresolved contradiction.
“Good’s killing was emblematic of [Trump's] true mission: to stage a spectacle of cruelty upon a city that stands in stark defiance of Trump’s dark vision of America.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Opinion | In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 6:18 PM
“Good’s killing was emblematic of [Trump's] true mission: to stage a spectacle of cruelty upon a city that stands in stark defiance of Trump’s dark vision of America.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Reposted by Damien Gimenez
The struggle of our day is no longer about Democrats versus Republicans or left versus right.
The choice right now is democracy or dictatorship.
Everyone must choose which side they’re on.
The choice right now is democracy or dictatorship.
Everyone must choose which side they’re on.
January 11, 2026 at 11:01 PM
The struggle of our day is no longer about Democrats versus Republicans or left versus right.
The choice right now is democracy or dictatorship.
Everyone must choose which side they’re on.
The choice right now is democracy or dictatorship.
Everyone must choose which side they’re on.
We talk a lot about innovation driving growth. But what if the mechanism is bending: tangible productivity plateaus, intangibles concentrate, and demand becomes the constraint—pushing automation from expansion to defence. Data and references in the article.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
How Technologies Are Eroding Creative Destruction - Damien Gimenez
Contemporary technologies inspire radically divergent diagnoses. On one side, they are portrayed as the main engine of a new wave of growth and jobs, driven by automation, computing, the internet, and...
damiengimenez.fr
January 6, 2026 at 11:15 AM
We talk a lot about innovation driving growth. But what if the mechanism is bending: tangible productivity plateaus, intangibles concentrate, and demand becomes the constraint—pushing automation from expansion to defence. Data and references in the article.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
We often treat “the economy” as self-evident. It is not. Its centrality is a historical achievement—social, philosophical and political —that does not boil down to capitalism or liberalism. I mapped that shift (15th–19th centuries) here:
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
At the Origins of the Valorisation of the Economy (15th–19th Centuries) - Damien Gimenez
In briefThis series of articles traces how the economy, morally disqualified in the Middle Ages, has been socially and politically valorised since the 15th century. Historical and conceptual itinerary...
damiengimenez.fr
December 28, 2025 at 9:27 AM
We often treat “the economy” as self-evident. It is not. Its centrality is a historical achievement—social, philosophical and political —that does not boil down to capitalism or liberalism. I mapped that shift (15th–19th centuries) here:
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
1/4 Noticing a Q4 shift in coverage: “AI & employment” is back as a headline topic—more than “robots & jobs”. The emphasis also moved: less factory automation, more white-collar workflows (including entry-level roles).
December 18, 2025 at 8:48 PM
1/4 Noticing a Q4 shift in coverage: “AI & employment” is back as a headline topic—more than “robots & jobs”. The emphasis also moved: less factory automation, more white-collar workflows (including entry-level roles).
Do democracies deliver? From Lipset (1959) to Fukuyama & Tudor (2025), the answers—crucial to democracy’s survival—tend to hinge on GDP and prosperity 📈. Is democracy locked into a promise of endless growth to stay legitimate? ⚖️
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Do democracies deliver? From Lipset (1959) to Fukuyama & Tudor (2025), the answers—crucial to democracy’s survival—tend to hinge on GDP and prosperity 📈. Is democracy locked into a promise of endless growth to stay legitimate? ⚖️
Can LLMs “know” the world if they only see text? In a new piece, I argue that knowledge lives in a triangle of senses/instruments, language & models – and that humans & AI enter this triangle from different sides.
#AI #LLM
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
#AI #LLM
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
Humans and AI: Two Messy Paths to Knowing the World - Damien Gimenez
Over the past two years, large language models (LLMs) have triggered a familiar split in reactions: enthusiasm, alarm, and a growing chorus of criticism. Among the sceptics, Yann LeCun occupies a part...
damiengimenez.fr
December 5, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Can LLMs “know” the world if they only see text? In a new piece, I argue that knowledge lives in a triangle of senses/instruments, language & models – and that humans & AI enter this triangle from different sides.
#AI #LLM
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
#AI #LLM
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
My next series, following 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺, will take up the question of how we model economy, politics & culture. Here’s a conceptual toolbox that:
1) breaks down social-science models into formalisms, parameters & causes;
2) highlights their limits.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
1) breaks down social-science models into formalisms, parameters & causes;
2) highlights their limits.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
Models in Economics and Sociology: A Conceptual Toolbox - Damien Gimenez
Drawing on earlier work that has examined scientific models in a historical perspective,1 with particular attention to physics, this article turns to models in economics and sociology. In this perspec...
damiengimenez.fr
December 2, 2025 at 7:50 AM
My next series, following 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺, will take up the question of how we model economy, politics & culture. Here’s a conceptual toolbox that:
1) breaks down social-science models into formalisms, parameters & causes;
2) highlights their limits.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
1) breaks down social-science models into formalisms, parameters & causes;
2) highlights their limits.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
“These AI agents checked government registries, verified identities, screened for sanctions, and compiled reports. Humans only stepped in for unusual cases.”
=> “giving AI full control could theoretically boost output by between 200% and 2,000%.”
theconversation.com/your-bank-is...
=> “giving AI full control could theoretically boost output by between 200% and 2,000%.”
theconversation.com/your-bank-is...
Your bank is already using AI. But what’s coming next could be radically new
Banking is set to be fundamentally rewritten by artificial intelligence, whether we’re ready or not. The real test is whether that transformation will be fair.
theconversation.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:33 PM
“These AI agents checked government registries, verified identities, screened for sanctions, and compiled reports. Humans only stepped in for unusual cases.”
=> “giving AI full control could theoretically boost output by between 200% and 2,000%.”
theconversation.com/your-bank-is...
=> “giving AI full control could theoretically boost output by between 200% and 2,000%.”
theconversation.com/your-bank-is...
Final instalment of my series on the valorisation of the economy: the rise of a utility–work–distribution grammar in the 19th c.: from Bentham to Durkheim, how utility takes root, labour is promoted as a moral pillar, and politics turns on the share-out of wealth.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
Utility, Work, Distribution: a New Grammar of the Social (19th Century) - Damien Gimenez
At the Origins of the Valorisation of the Economy (15th–19th Centuries) – Article 5/5 During the eighteenth century, Great Britain conferred an unprecedented status on the economy. The development of ...
damiengimenez.fr
November 24, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Final instalment of my series on the valorisation of the economy: the rise of a utility–work–distribution grammar in the 19th c.: from Bentham to Durkheim, how utility takes root, labour is promoted as a moral pillar, and politics turns on the share-out of wealth.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
In 18th-c. Great Britain, the tangle of financial, local and personal interests opened up society, expanded credit, production and consumption, and led to a moral reversal: self-interest as a source of order. I unpack this in my new piece: damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
Interests as the driving forces of social recomposition in eighteenth-century Great Britain - Damien Gimenez
At the Origins of the Valorisation of the Economy (15th–19th Centuries) – Article 4 In eighteenth-century Great Britain, the word “interest” condenses heterogeneous realities that we now distinguish i...
damiengimenez.fr
November 18, 2025 at 8:30 AM
In 18th-c. Great Britain, the tangle of financial, local and personal interests opened up society, expanded credit, production and consumption, and led to a moral reversal: self-interest as a source of order. I unpack this in my new piece: damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
1789 was not just rage in the streets. Passions joined with Enlightenment ideas and a declining feudal order clinging to an outdated conception of sovereignty—a world in which any “harmony of interests” was impossible.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
1789: Sovereignty and the Impossible Harmony of Interests - Damien Gimenez
Robert Darnton’s The Revolutionary Temper offers a vivid picture of the moral climate that preceded 1789. He uncovers the accumulated resentment of ordinary people against the Crown, the nobility, and...
damiengimenez.fr
November 14, 2025 at 7:29 AM
1789 was not just rage in the streets. Passions joined with Enlightenment ideas and a declining feudal order clinging to an outdated conception of sovereignty—a world in which any “harmony of interests” was impossible.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
How wealth was made a political principle in 17th–18th-century England: mercantilism vs free trade, and the secularisation of sovereignty (Bodin, Hobbes, Locke) — each grounding legitimacy in material security.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
Wealth as a Political Principle: England, 17th–18th Centuries - Damien Gimenez
From the mid-16th to the 18th century, European power underwent a profound transformation. The strength of a state was no longer conceived only in terms of dynastic lineage, military glory, or defence...
damiengimenez.fr
November 3, 2025 at 7:06 AM
How wealth was made a political principle in 17th–18th-century England: mercantilism vs free trade, and the secularisation of sovereignty (Bodin, Hobbes, Locke) — each grounding legitimacy in material security.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
Germany spent 20+ years running on cheap Russian gas and selling high-margin cars to China. Now batteries, rare earths and EV platforms are treated as strategic assets, not neutral trade. Berlin’s discomfort epitomises a wider global power shift.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
Berlin’s new stance towards Beijing shows how the global balance of power is shifting - Damien Gimenez
In a « Le Monde » article about tensions between Berlin and Beijing, the journalist writes: “The paradigm shift in international trade, where the strategic dominance of resources and raw materials, se...
damiengimenez.fr
October 27, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Germany spent 20+ years running on cheap Russian gas and selling high-margin cars to China. Now batteries, rare earths and EV platforms are treated as strategic assets, not neutral trade. Berlin’s discomfort epitomises a wider global power shift.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_snapsh...
“Protectionist policies often prove less effective than intended because they address geography rather than ownership or control.”
www.polytechnique-insights.com/en/columns/i...
www.polytechnique-insights.com/en/columns/i...
What can the international market do to address Chinese technological innovation?
What can the international market do to address Chinese technological innovation? – Read the column on Polytechnique Insights
www.polytechnique-insights.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:32 AM
“Protectionist policies often prove less effective than intended because they address geography rather than ownership or control.”
www.polytechnique-insights.com/en/columns/i...
www.polytechnique-insights.com/en/columns/i...
“Amazon’s automation team expects the company can avoid hiring more than 160,000 people in the United States it would otherwise need by 2027. That would save about 30 cents on each item” picked and shipped.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots
www.nytimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:29 PM
“Amazon’s automation team expects the company can avoid hiring more than 160,000 people in the United States it would otherwise need by 2027. That would save about 30 cents on each item” picked and shipped.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
1/6
Thomas Piketty’s op-ed (EN) elicits a question: is “social dumping” by China a new idea? (Thread)
www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/a...
Thomas Piketty’s op-ed (EN) elicits a question: is “social dumping” by China a new idea? (Thread)
www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/a...
Thomas Piketty: 'If Europe does not urgently give up its love of free trade, it risks an unprecedented social and industrial disaster'
COLUMN. Europe should impose tariffs as a sort of tax on the CO₂ generated by the transportation of goods and to counter the damaging effects of Chinese dumping, writes the French economist.
www.lemonde.fr
October 18, 2025 at 6:19 AM
1/6
Thomas Piketty’s op-ed (EN) elicits a question: is “social dumping” by China a new idea? (Thread)
www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/a...
Thomas Piketty’s op-ed (EN) elicits a question: is “social dumping” by China a new idea? (Thread)
www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/a...
Spain vs the Dutch Republic (16th–17th c.). From Potosí to the Wisselbank: silver, Antwerp, Genoa, Amsterdam, VOC/WIC. Two routes that valorised the economy. Plus: the School of Salamanca on prices & money, and the Reformation’s indirect role.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
The Age of Extractive and Commercial Empires: Spain and the Dutch Republic (16th–17th Century) - Damien Gimenez
At the Origins of the Valorisation of the Economy (15th–19th Centuries) – Article 2 Spain and the Dutch Republic embody two paths into the first globalisation: the former rested on extraction and impe...
damiengimenez.fr
October 13, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Spain vs the Dutch Republic (16th–17th c.). From Potosí to the Wisselbank: silver, Antwerp, Genoa, Amsterdam, VOC/WIC. Two routes that valorised the economy. Plus: the School of Salamanca on prices & money, and the Reformation’s indirect role.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
The Chartreuse, adorned in its autumn colours.
October 12, 2025 at 12:49 PM
The Chartreuse, adorned in its autumn colours.
Eline Van der Velden, head of Particle6 Production: "We believe the next generation of cultural icons will be synthetic – stars that never tire, never age, and can interact with fans."
www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/a...
www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/a...
Hollywood fires back at Tilly Norwood, the actress created by AI
The creation of digital artists could quickly lead to a creative revolution and poses a threat to actors. In 2023, actors went on a lengthy strike, which resulted in artificial intelligence (AI) being...
www.lemonde.fr
October 3, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Eline Van der Velden, head of Particle6 Production: "We believe the next generation of cultural icons will be synthetic – stars that never tire, never age, and can interact with fans."
www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/a...
www.lemonde.fr/en/culture/a...
From credit bans to wealth’s legitimacy, from the knightly code to civic virtue: how the city-states of the Italian #Renaissance made the #economy a value.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
When the Economy Becomes a Value: The Turning Point of the Italian Renaissance - Damien Gimenez
At the turn from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, the northern Italian city-states usher in a decisive shift: the economy is no longer merely a means of subsistence but becomes a value in political...
damiengimenez.fr
September 4, 2025 at 3:45 PM
From credit bans to wealth’s legitimacy, from the knightly code to civic virtue: how the city-states of the Italian #Renaissance made the #economy a value.
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...
damiengimenez.fr/wpdgi_articl...