Paul Cohen

Paul Cohen teaches Associate Professor of History at the University of Toronto. A historian of early modern France, he pursues research interests in a range of distinct areas: the formation of nation-states; the social history of languages; and early modern empire. Before joining the University of Toronto, he taught at the Université Paris-8 (Vincennes-St Denis). He also writes on issues of contemporary concern in France. He vents on Twitter at @Paul_E_Cohen
Sense and Sensibility at the World Cup
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Sense and Sensibility at the World Cup

By
 / 26 June 2019

I've sworn, after learning about the latest kleptocrat billionaire to buy a club, or scrambling from the clash between hooligans and riot police, or hearing a homophobic chant rise up from the stands, I would give up on the game. Anyone with sense would.

Johnny Hallyday Was More Than Just a Kitschy Gallic Misreading of Rock
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Johnny Hallyday Was More Than Just a Kitschy Gallic Misreading of Rock

By
 / 23 January 2018

It's hard to think of another male pop singer who could hold his own alongside exceptional female vocalists like Céline Dion.

The Beautiful Game in the Time of Tyranny
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The Beautiful Game in the Time of Tyranny

By
 / 7 April 2017
What a Brazilian football player who taught a nation how to fight dictatorship can teach us in the Age of Trump.
Football in the Age of Late Capitalism: Field Notes From the 2016 Euro
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Football in the Age of Late Capitalism: Field Notes From the 2016 Euro

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 / 25 January 2017
Behind a veneer of youthful glamour, the Euro all but groaned under the weight of excess global capital, merciless media scrutiny, hyperprofessionalization, domestic French anxieties, and geopolitics.
Dark Knight of the Republic: The Terrifying Monsieur Pasqua
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Dark Knight of the Republic: The Terrifying Monsieur Pasqua

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 / 24 June 2016
As hatchet man and master of dirty tricks for Charles de Gaulle, Pasqua operated under the ethos that "democracy ends where the interests of the state begin."