Rakya Abidi is a future agronomist leading an eco-responsible family garden project in Tunisia and Paolo Sosa-Villagarcia is a political scientist cultivating spaces for democratic dialogue in Peru. They both have been awarded the first Prize of the international and interdisciplinary competition ‘A social contract for the 21st century’.

Launched by the Domaine de Villette Foundation and the Maison Rousseau et Littérature in 2023, this competition wants to promote projects that examine the Social Contract in the light of today's pressing issues and sketch out its shape for tomorrow.

By asserting the principle of the sovereignty of the people through the community of free subjects, by advocating the liberation of the individual through education and by denouncing the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources, Jean-Jacques Rousseau helped to define the coordinates of modern politics and is as relevant as ever to today's concerns.