Louis Dumont Fund

Aid fund for research in social anthropology

Ongoing call

Deadline for application

31 January 2026

The Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (FMSH) manages and awards various grants and prizes funded by bequests from late scientists or from associations that turn to the Foundation, confident in the relevance of its selection process and the rigour of its management.

Established in 1988 by Louis Dumont and his wife Suzanne Tardieu-Dumont, the Louis Dumont Research Fund offers annual grants exclusively for field research.

The support provided by the Fund is intended for social anthropology projects that prioritise the collection of descriptive material with a view to opening up a monographic perspective.

The Fund’s grants are intended for early-career ethnologists and anthropologists at Master’s, doctoral or postdoctoral level, regardless of nationality, provided they are based and enrolled in France. Applicants must have prior training in anthropological methods.

Candidates may be contacted for an interview.

The Fund provides additional funding to the successful applicant to cover travel and/or accommodation expenses in the field.

The Fund’s Selection Committee is composed of:

Jean-Claude Galey (EHESS), Chair
Catherine Capdeville-Zeng (INALCO)
Caterina Guenzi (EHESS)
André Itéanu (CNRS,EPHE)
Ismaël Moya (CNRS)
Camille Riverti (CNRS)

Louis Dumont

French ethnologist and anthropologist Louis Dumont (1911–1998), initially known for his work on the caste system in India, later extended this research – guided by a comparative approach – to explore the ideas and historical processes underlying the various configurations and values that shape the contemporary modern world. Multidisciplinary in outlook, his work centres on two key concepts: holism and hierarchy.

The main works of Louis Dumont

La Tarasque. An Attempt to Describe a Local Event from an Ethnographic Point of View, Paris, Gallimard, 1953, 1987.
A Sub-caste of Southern India. Social Organisation and Religion of the Pramalai Kallar, Paris, Mouton, 1957, 1992.
Homo Hierarchicus. The Caste System and Its Implications, Paris, Gallimard, 1967, 1980.
Homo Aequalis I. Genesis and Development of Economic Ideology, Paris, Gallimard, 1977, 1985.
Essays on Individualism. An Anthropological Perspective on Modern Ideology, Paris, Le Seuil, 1983, 1986.
Homo Aequalis II. German Ideology. France–Germany and Back, Paris, Gallimard, 1988.
Introduction to Two Theories of Social Anthropology. Kinship Groups and Marriage Alliances, Paris, Mouton, 1971; Gallimard, 1997.

Find out more

G. Berthoud, G. Busino, The Exploration of Modernity. The Approach of Louis Dumont, Geneva, Droz, 1984.
J.-C. Galey, 'L’esprit et la raison' (Mind and Reason). In: Actualité de Louis Dumont, Droits et Culture, no. 39, 2000, followed by a ‘Complete Bibliography of Works and Publications,’ pp. 161–176 and 211–217.
S. Vibert, Holisme et modernité (Holism and Modernity), Paris, Éditions Michalon, 2000.
C. Barraud, A. Itéanu, I. Moya (eds), Puissance et impuissance de la valeur. L’anthropologie comparative de Louis Dumont, Paris, CNRS Éditions, 2016.
J.-C. Galey, 'L’anthropologie concertante de Louis Dumont'. In: The 1950s: The Origins of Contemporary French Anthropology, C. Laurière (ed.), Les Carnets de Bérose, no. 14, vol. 1, pp. 172–248.