Joseph Pestieau

Joseph Pestieau, philosopher and anthropologist (born 1938 in Froidchapelle, Belgium). He studied philosophy at the University of Louvain, then attended the London School of Economics from 1962 to 1963. In 1963 he emigrated to Canada and became a teacher of philosophy at the Collège de Saint-Laurent, where he also served as department chair and assistant principal, among other positions. He also taught as a lecturer at the Université du Québec (1970) and at the Université de Montréal (1979).

Pestieau has contributed to various journals and published several books of philosophy, including Essai contre le défaitisme politique: imagination politique et intelligence économique (1973), L'Espoir incertain: essai sur le pouvoir (1984), Guerre et paix sans État. Anarchie et ordre coutumier (1984), and Les citoyens au bazar. Mondialisation, nations et minorités (1999). Pestieau is passionate about philosophy and culture. His thinking runs along the boundaries between social anthropology, philosophy, and politics. He has examined the great issues of modern times in a number of books and essays on such topics as the environment, the war in Iraq, globalization and industry, and political defeatism.