Robert Castel (1) (1933–2013)

Robert Castel was born in Saint-Pierre-Quilbignon, now part of the city of Brest, France. He studied philosophy and obtained the agrégation (French civil service teaching exam) in 1959. He was assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Lille until 1967, when Raymond Aron offered him a job at the Sorbonne. He began his career with studies on psychology and psychiatry, including the treatment and care of the mentally ill, following the work of Michel Foucault. He then worked with Pierre Bourdieu in sociology. In 1968, he began teaching in the sociology department of the University of Vincennes in Saint-Denis, which became University of Paris VIII. Castel's analysis of the system of wage labor and its decline from the 1970s earned him widespread public recognition. He also studied the threats to social cohesion due to unemployment and job precariousness. He was a researcher an then director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS). In 1995, he published the now-classic work, Les Métamorphoses de la question sociale, une chronique du salariat (The Metamorphosis of the Social Question) on wage labor and social inequalities. Among his other major books were L'Ordre psychiatrique (English translation: The Regulation of Madness, 1977); and L'Insécurité sociale: qu'est-ce qu'être protégé? (Social Insecurity: What Is Being Protected? 2003). He was responsible for the formation of Le Groupe d'analyse du social et de la sociabilité, a specialized group of sociologists within the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS, French National Center for Scientific Research).