Denis Vidal (born 4 July 1954) is a French anthropologist with a doctorate degree from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and the Université de Nanterre.
[3] Vidal completed his Ph.D. in 1983 at the EPHE and the University of Nanterre, under the supervision of Charles Malamoud [fr], with a doctoral thesis titled 'Le Culte des Divinités Locales dans une Région de l'Himachal Pradesh (The Cult of Local Divinities in a Region of Himachal Pradesh)'.
Some of his research works on India include the "archival exploration" of Sirohi State and his studies on the "economic organisation of the bazaar", the social and religious anthropology of the Himalayas, and "visual culture of the old city of Delhi".
[11] Vidal has been one of the curators of the exhibition Persona (Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, January - October 2016,[12] and of the permanent exhibition on robotics at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, Paris (opening in April 2019) [13] OF WOOD AND WIND.Sustainable cargo ships in France and in India.
Deux alternatives pour un transport maritime responsable Co-produit par l'IRD et l'ADEME, avec le soutien de l'Institut français de Pondichery Vidal's Violence and Truth: A Rajasthani Kingdom Confronts Colonial Authority (1995)[note 1] was a study of history of the Sirohi State, focusing mainly on the influence exerted by British values and legal system on politics and society in Sirohi during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, providing "a vivid picture of caste-specific protest repertory".