euro|topics - Erik Orsenna

22/11/2008

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Orsenna, Erik

2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Lire - France | 01/06/2007

Erik Orsena believes that wirters should become engaged in the struggle against global warming

Asked by Philippe Delaroche about the role of writers facing global warming, the French author Erik Orsenna considers that they have "More than a role, a duty, in so far as a writer's purpose is to create better understanding of both humans and the world they live in. Writers have more time, are more general in their approach. Specialists belong to the category of people who don't have time. Writers have what is termed 'general culture'. They are preoccupied with the Earth they live on. If not, they aren't very honest and are passing on an insufferable Earth to their children. Part of their mission is to involve themselves with the planet. It is up to them to spread and develop knowledge: 'the job of living' as Cesare Pavese put it, is also 'the job of the Earth'. My heart is set on understanding the human species, on knowing what the Earth is and how to stop it from becoming unbearable. ... Writing in an ivory tower is not my way of life."

L'Express - France | 07/06/2006

Erik Orsenna on the globalised economy

The French writer Erik Orsenna speaks about his latest book, 'Journey to the Land of Cotton', in an interview with Dominique Simonnet. "Cotton gave me a means of tackling globalisation. Cotton-related labour involves several hundred million human beings, on every continent. There are those who plant, those who spin, those who weave, those who distribute, those who trade, and then there's us, who wear it. ... Everything is inter-linked and competing. But everywhere you look, people are trying to escape this competition. There is suffering, but also profit: Overall, thanks to international trade, we live better than before. .... Even the most liberal types realise that some kind of global governance is needed to lay down the rules of the game: child labour, environmental protection, health, etc. The stadium is too big and we are still lacking a referee (the World Trade Organisation aside)."

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