Tout Empire: ou comment ce concept a perdu sa spécificité et comment la restaurer

During the last few years, the concept of empire has suffered from conceptual stretching. The aim of this article is thus threefold. First, it identifies the peripheral concepts with which empire is usually confused. Second, it investigates defining strategies applied to “empire” and suggests three reasons that account for conceptual stretching. Third, it builds a new definition, carefully distinguished from those of hegemon, great power, cosmopolis and imperialism. Finally, the paper insists on the necessity of this clarification for political science as well as historical sociology.