Sociologica, 1/2017 - Copyright © 2017 by Società editrice il Mulino, Bologna. 1 Symposium / Traveling Theories. The International Circulation of Social Thinkers and Their Works, edited by Gisèle Sapiro and Marco Santoro How to Become an International Intellectual? The Case of Thomas Piketty and “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Constantin Brissaud and Jean-Michel Chahsiche doi: 10.2383/86982 Interestingly, Professor Piketty has recently assembled a group of fifteen French economists (the so-called Piketty Group) that have joined forces with a group of German economists, known as the Glienicker Gruppe, to propose institutional changes that may help resolve the Euro Crisis and return Europe on the path of stability and integration. The parallel with Capital in the Twenty-First Century is uncanny. Professor Piketty has a talent for making bold statements replete with good intentions. Just as he presents his Capital as a dagger with which to slay the abomination of unbearable inequality […] Yanis Varoufakis 2014, 32 1. Introduction As pointed out by Abram de Swaan [2007], only a handful of intellectuals have been able to overcome the borders of their home states to gain international recognition. Following the best-selling record made by Capital in the Twenty-First Century in the United States of America (US) [2014] and in France [2013], and the “Pikettymania” that ensued, it seems that Thomas Piketty has joined this club of happy-few: in March 2016, his chronicles for French newspapers Le Monde and Libération were published in the US and in the United Kingdom with significant coverage by major media outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Bloomberg Magazine and The New York Times. Generally, Thomas Piketty’s views on economic current affairs are frequently quoted and commentated by those same medias.