Pinçon was born in
Lonny, Ardennes, on 18 May 1942[2] into a
working-class family.[3] His father was a polisher in
Nouzonville.[4] In 1967, he married fellow sociology student Monique Charlot, with whom he had a son. The marriage allowed his wife to accompany him while on
Coopération [
fr] in
Morocco, which inspired his dissertation supervised by
Jean-Claude Passeron. Upon the couple's return, they completed their studies at the
University of Vincennes [
fr] and began working for the
CNRS.[5]
Throughout his career, Pinçon was interviewed multiple times on
France Inter. His works focused on income inequality and the customs and habits of wealthy families. Through his publications, he explored an anthropology of the elite class in contemporary French society.[6][7][8][9]
Pinçon and his wife retired in 2007 and published more concise works thanks to an ability to express themselves more freely while not employed.[4] In
2012, he publicly supported
Jean-Luc Mélenchon for
President, a candidate of the
Left Front.[10][11] He later distanced himself from Mélenchon, calling him "a new
Mitterrand".[4]
Michel Pinçon died of
Alzheimer's disease in
Paris, on 26 September 2022, at the age of 80.[12][13] National Secretary of the
French Communist PartyFabien Roussel paid tribute to him, saying "I pay tribute to this fellow traveler, a great sociologist, who never ceased, with Monique, to decipher the relationship of domination in all its forms".[14]
Works
Désarrois ouvriers, familles de métallurgistes dans les mutations industrielles et sociales (1987)
With Monique Pinçon-Charlot
Dans les beaux quartiers (1989)
La chasse à courre, ses rites et ses enjeux (1993)
Voyage en grande bourgeoisie (1997)
Grandes Fortunes. Dynasties familiales et formes de richesse en France (1998)
Sociologie de la bourgeoisie (2000)
Sociologie de Paris (2004)
Châteaux et Châtelains : Les siècles passent, le symbole demeure (2005)
Les Ghettos du gotha : comment la bourgeoisie défend ses espaces (2007)
^Michaud, Yves (2 December 2010).
"Les Pinçon-Charlot". Libération (in French). Archived from
the original on 16 September 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2022.