Jérôme Segal (born 26 December 1970) is a French-Austrian essayist and historian, lecturer at

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

and a researcher and journalist in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He is also known for his contributions in the field of

animal law Animal law is a combination of statutory and case law in which the naturelegal, social or biologicalof nonhuman animals is an important factor. Animal law encompasses companion animals, wildlife, animals used in entertainment and animals raised ...

. He is the author of several articles and books, in particular on

Jewishness Jewish identity is the objective or subjective sense of perceiving oneself as a Jew and as relating to being Jewish. It encompasses elements of nationhood, "The Jews are a nation and were so before there was a Jewish state of Israel" "Jews are ...

and animal advocacy.

Education and career

Segal was born in France in 1970. He began his graduate studies by obtaining an engineering degree from the

École centrale de Lyon The Centrale Lyon (), formerly (, abbr. ECL), is a research university in Grand Lyon, greater Lyon, France. Founded in 1857 by François Barthélemy Arlès-Dufour in response to the increasing industrialization of France, it is one of the oldes ...

in 1993. More interested in the

human science Human science (or human sciences in the plural) studies the philosophical, biological, social, justice, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand the understanding of the human world through a broad interdisciplinary approa ...

s than in engineering, he reconciled his career and his ambitions by orienting himself towards the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

and completed a DEA, then a doctorate between Lyon and Berlin from 1993 to 1998, on the history of information theory in the second half of the 20th century. He then continued this post-doctoral work at the

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte) is a scientific research institute founded in March 1994. It is dedicated to addressing fundamental questions of the history of knowled ...

, before returning to France, to Paris, during the summer of 2000 to work as a lecturer in the history of science and epistemology at IUFM in Paris and in parallel as a researcher at the Cavaillès Center of the

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

. Segal moved to Austria in 2004 as an academic and scientific cooperation attaché at the French Embassy in Vienna. He continued in Vienna, from 2008, a career as a researcher in social sciences at the Interdisciplinary Center for Comparative Research in Social Sciences (ICCR) (2008 to 2011), as coordinator of the doctoral college of history and philosophy of sciences of

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

(2011 to 2014) and associate researcher at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Social History (2014 to 2016). Since 2016, Segal has resumed his post as a lecturer at Sorbonne University (within INSPE Paris).

Work

Writing

Segal defines himself as an "interventionist" and "pathological writer". He seeks to discuss with the public issues that he considers important. Since 2008, he has maintained a blog entitled ''Le petit flambeau – L'Autriche vue par un universitaire français'' ("The Little Torch ''–'' Austria as Seen by a French Academic"), dealing among other things with Austrian politics, racism and secularism. Since 2008, he has been the author of more than 70 news articles, literary and cinematographic reviews and reviews published on ''Nonfiction.fr'' addressing the previously mentioned themes, as well as

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

, or even preparation for running a marathon. He is also a writer for the

antispeciesism Speciesism () is a term used in philosophy regarding the treatment of individuals of different species. The term has several different definitions. Some specifically define speciesism as discrimination or unjustified treatment based on an indivi ...

journal ''L'Amorce'' ("The Primer"). Segal is also a journalist, working as a French media correspondent in Austria and has authored dozens of articles since 2002.

Activism

Jérôme Segal opposes racism and advocates helping refugees in Austria. Since his discovery in Montreuil, in 2001, of the situation of the

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

in Europe, he has been involved in the community, as an activist and intellectual, notably with two articles published in the review ''

Les Temps modernes ''Les Temps Modernes'' () was a French journal, founded by Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Its first issue was published in October 1945. It was named after the 1936 film by Charlie Chaplin. ''Les Temps Moderne ...

''. An advocate of animal rights, he practices

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

and is committed to

. Several of his books and articles advocate animal rights. He is also a member in Austria of the Team Vegan sports association. In France, he was a candidate of the

Animalist Party The Animalist Party () is a French political party focused on animal rights and against cruelty to animals. History For the 2022 French legislative election, the party presented 421 candidates in the first round of this election, with the pr ...

in the 2019 European election. Segal also speaks against the sexual mutilation of minors, more precisely the subject of

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

, which he condemns in the name of the right of children to their physical integrity. He tackles this subject from a historical point of view in his book ''Athée et Juif'', as well as in newspaper articles and journals.

Jewishness

Segal's paternal grandfather fled Austria in May 1938 for France, before entering the Foreign Legion and then the Resistance where he met the Segal's grandmother. Segal is very interested in the question of Jewishness and defines himself as an "atheist Jew". From 2006 to 2011, he collaborated on the organization of the Vienna International Jewish Film Festival, while working on the Euro-Festival project, aimed at studying festivals as places of debate and identity construction.

Marathon running

Segal is an experienced marathoner. Since 2003, he claims four to five marathons or

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

s per year, running in 15 different countries.

Publications

In ''Le zéro et le un'' ("Zero and one"), Segal shows how information theory was constituted, taking into account the particular context of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, where the industrial sector, military research and university research were working to establish the first computer networks. He remarks "how much the theory of information could have been the object of ideological, political and social stakes" in its first years. ''Animal radical'', is an essay on the history and sociology of antispeciesism. This work presents the construction of this ideology from

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

to Israel, including

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. Although himself a vegan and antispeciesist, Segal also presents the excesses of

neo-pagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

sects or towards

political violence Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a State (polity), state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-st ...

Author

Books

* ''Pourquoi courir ? 20 raisons de pratiquer la course à pied'', Les Perséides, 2024. * ''Veganwashing. L’instrumentalisation politique du véganisme'', Lux, 2024. * ''Radikales Tierrecht. Zehn Fragen zum Antispeziesismus'' (translated into German by Brita Pohl), turia & kant, 2024. * ''C'est à ce prix qu'ils comprirent'' (novel in French), Les Perséïdes, 2023. * ''Tous véganes ? Manifeste pour un véganisme éclairé'' (in French), Yves Michel, 2021. * ''Dix questions sur l'antispécisme. Comprendre la cause animale'' (in French), Libertalia, 2021. * ''L'armoire'' ("The Wardrobe"; in French), Valensin – David Reinharc, 2020. * ''Animal radical: Histoire et sociologie de l’antispécisme'' ("Radical animal: The History and Sociology of Antispeciesism"; in French), Lux, 2020. * ''Vegan: Mehr denn je!'' ("Vegan: More Than Ever!"; in German), Konturen, 2020. * ''Wie ein roter Faden'' ("Like a Common Thread"; in German), Konturen, 2019. * ''Judentum: über die Religion hinaus'' ("Judaism: Beyond religion"; in German), Konturen, 2017. * ''Athée et Juif: Fécondité d’un paradoxe apparent'' ("Atheist and Jew: Fertility of an Apparent Paradox"; in French), Editions Matériologiques, 2016. * ''Le Zéro et le Un, Histoire de la notion scientifique d’information au XXe siècle'' ("The Zero and the One, History of the scientific notion of information in the 20th century"; in French), Editions Matériologiques, 2011.

Chapters

* ''La pensée végane: 50 regards sur la question animale'' (articles: "Gastronomie végétalienne" and "Action directe"; in French), edited by Renan Larue, Presses Universitaires de France, 2020. * ''Les Nationalistes à l'assaut de l'Europe'' (article: "Autriche: Quand le nationalisme issu de l’extrême droite devient majoritaire"; in French), edited by Dominique Vidal, Demopolis, 2020. * ''Festivals and the Cultural Public Sphere'' (article: "Cannes: 'A French International Festival'"), edited by

Gerard Delanty Gerard Delanty (born 1960) is a British-based sociologist and Professor of Sociology and Social & Political Thought at the University of Sussex. He is also the editor of European Journal of Social Theory The ''European Journal of Social Theory' ...

, Liana Giorgi, Monica Sassatelli, London/New York: Routledge, 2011 (written with C. Blumauer
PDF
. * ''La Galicie au temps des Habsbourg (1772–1918) Histoire, société, cultures en contact'' (article: "L'or noir contre l'étoile jaune, mobilités particulières des Juifs de Galicie ayant investi dans le pétrole"; in French), edited by Jacques Le Rider and Heinz Raschel, Presses Universitaires François Rabelais, 2010 (translation:
Black Gold and Yellow StarForms of mobility of Galician Jews investing in the oil business
).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Segal, Jérôme 1970 births Living people 21st-century Austrian historians 21st-century Austrian journalists 21st-century Austrian male writers 21st-century Austrian writers 21st-century French essayists 21st-century French historians 21st-century French journalists 21st-century French male writers 21st-century French writers Academic staff of Paris-Sorbonne University Academic staff of the University of Vienna Austrian animal rights activists Austrian animal rights scholars Austrian essayists Austrian male marathon runners French animal rights activists French animal rights scholars French anti-racism activists French male bloggers French male marathon runners French ultramarathon runners French veganism activists Genital integrity activists Historians of animal rights Jewish anti-racism activists Jewish atheists Jewish Austrian anti-racism activists Jewish Austrian writers Jewish French writers Jewish historians Jewish journalists Journalists from Vienna Writers from Vienna