David Guéranger has just published his book "Maires, à quoi bon ? Enquête au cœur des engagements municipaux" (Mayors, what's the point? An investigation into municipal commitments), released by Editions Textuel on January 14, 2026.
David Guéranger explores the behind-the-scenes world of local politics through a long-term sociological study focusing on small towns and based on in-depth interviews with local officials. Far from viewing the departure of mayors as a phenomenon of exhaustion or protest, the author reveals the moral dilemmas, daily tensions, and silent compromises that structure the ordinary experience of local power. He shows that commitment is not so much a heroic impulse as a learning process of resignation, made up of sacrifices, compromises, but also loyalty to the municipal institution.
By meticulously retracing the life stories and political trajectories of these elected officials grappling with mental strain, decision-making solitude, and contradictory injunctions from the state, the author offers an intimate look at local government, at the invisible forces that drive its reproduction, and proposes an embodied reading of contemporary democratic wear and tear.
