René Girard

René Noël Théophile Girard (/ʒiˈrɑːrd/; French: [ʒiʁaʁ]; December 25, 1923 – November 4, 2015) was a French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science whose work belongs to the tradition of anthropological philosophy. Girard was the author of nearly thirty books, with his writings spanning many academic domains. Although the reception of his work is different in each of these areas, there is a growing body of secondary literature on his work and his influence on disciplines such as literary criticism, critical theory, anthropology, theology, psychology, mythology, sociology, economics, cultural studies, and philosophy.

Girard's fundamental ideas, which he had developed throughout his career and provided the foundation for his thinking, was that desire is mimetic (all of our desires are borrowed from other people), that all conflict originates in mimetic desire (mimetic rivalry), that the scapegoat mechanism is the origin of sacrifice and the foundation of human culture, and religion was necessary in human evolution to control the violence that can come from mimetic rivalry, and that the Bible reveals these ideas and denounces the scapegoat mechanism.

René Girard (footballer)

René Girard (born 4 April 1954 in Vauvert, Gard) is a French football manager and former player.

Career

Girard won seven caps, scoring one goal for France and was a member of the squad that finished fourth at the 1982 World Cup. Playing for Bordeaux, Girard won three Ligue 1 titles – in 1983–84, 1984–85 and 1986–87, as well as two Coupes de France, over Marseille in the 1986 and 1987 editions.

Coaching career

Girard has managed Nîmes, Strasbourg, Pau FC and multiple France youth teams. He coached the France national under-21 football team from 2004–08. On 3 June 2009, he became the new head coach of Montpellier, replacing Rolland Courbis. In the 2011–12 season, Montpellier shocked the footballing world by winning its first Ligue 1 title, finishing the season with 82 points, three more than runner-up Paris Saint-Germain. He said after his team won it. "I think our triumph is a real shot in the arm for French football. "It just goes to show that everyone can beat everyone and that money isn't the be-all and end-all. We're a club of mates, a club that brings young players through and gives them a chance. "At the end of the day, it's worked out well for us. We played some great football, with a well-balanced team and I'm overwhelmed." He signed for Lille in July 2013, replacing Rudi Garcia who left for Roma.

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Latest News for: rené girard

Golden era of French coaching is over, so who will replace Deschamps?

Yahoo Daily News 19 Mar 2025
Where have all the coaches gone? French sports media address the theme on a regular basis and with good reason ... Who could succeed him? ... It may be, as the former Montpellier manager René Girard suggested, “an absence of networks and decent agents” ... .
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