Alain Caillé was born in 1994, in Paris. He obtained his doctorate in Economics and Sociology from University of London in 1972. He has published around 30 works and 500 academic papers. He worked in the University of Paris X Nanterre and now is a Emeritus Professor. Before this he was the deputy director of the doctorate research center of “economics, organization and society” there. He is also the founder and editor of La Revue MAUSS (Anti-Utilitarian Movement in the Social Sciences). Now this interdisciplinary journal is published at The Discovery publishing house (Editions La Découverte), which has become one of the most influential French journals in the fields of humanities and social sciences. He once served as the chief editor of The Discovery publishing house and is chief editor of The Waterfront publishing house (Le Bord de l’eau) now, leading the production of The MAUSS Library.

His research mainly focuses on inheriting and developing the work of Marcel Mauss, the spiritual heir of E. Durkheim. Mauss published his famous work Gift in 1924. From Caillé’s point of view, Gift is not only a major contribution to the ethnology of his time, but also a decisive contribution to the general sociology and to moral and political philosophy. His main works include: Critique of Utility Reason , La Découverte, Paris, 1989. The Spirit of the Gift (in collaboration with Jacques Godbout), La Découverte, 1992,