Fayard Editions are preparing to publish an essay that questions the origins of patriarchy through a scientific and determinist approach.
Fayard Editions will publish on April 22, 2026 an essay entitled “Why Don’t Amazons Exist?”, which promises to provoke lively debates. Written by Vera Nikolski, a doctor in political science, and Nicolas Pichoff, a doctor in physics, this work offers a controversial reinterpretation of the foundations of male domination, going against the widely held idea that it is only a recent social construction.
The authors aim to reopen the discussion on the roots of patriarchy by relying not on ideology, but on scientific models. According to them, understanding the deep determinisms that have shaped human societies is an essential step to effectively address contemporary issues related to gender inequalities.
The central thesis of the book is based on a demonstration by absurdity, using tools from hard sciences. Nicolas Pichoff, an engineer at the Atomic Energy Center, has developed algorithms to model the reproduction rate of primitive human groups over several generations. The model analyzes the impact of mortality of each sex based on the division of labor.
The results of this simulation indicate that a social organization where the most risky activities (hunting, war), and therefore the deadliest ones, are predominantly entrusted to men, is the only one that guarantees a sufficient reproduction rate for the survival of the species. Conversely, a society where women – biologically essential for procreation – would suffer increased mortality due to these risky activities, would see its demographics collapse. This division of roles would therefore not stem from an ideological choice but from a survival constraint.
Far from advocating a return to traditional norms, Vera Nikolski and Nicolas Pichoff affirm their conviction that it is necessary to identify and understand our determinisms in order to be able to combat and break free from them. Their approach is in line with sociologists like Bernard Lahire, who seek to derive “fundamental laws of human societies.” The essay thus positions itself as an attempt to “deconstruct the deconstruction” by introducing biological and evolutionary factors into an analysis often confined to the social and cultural field.
The strength of the book lies in the complementary nature of its authors. Vera Nikolski is a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure, holds a doctorate in political science (Paris 1), and taught at the university before becoming a editor of debates in the National Assembly. She has previously published with Fayard “Feminism,” a critically acclaimed essay of which “Why Don’t Amazons Exist?” is an extension. Nicolas Pichoff, on the other hand, brings the rigor of his training as a physicist and his expertise in modeling.
The essay, subtitled “On the Origins of Patriarchy,” will be 400 pages long and will be available for 23 euros. It presents itself as a bold scientific contribution to a major societal debate, inviting us to move beyond divisions to question the foundations of our social organization.
