Paul Yonnet (14 January 1948 – 19 August 2011) was a French sociologist who specialised in the study of leisure, sport and fashion.
In his book Jeux, modes et masses (1985), he analyzed social transformations through the study of subjects such as equestrianism, jogging and football.
In the book, he scrutinized the antiracist organization SOS Racisme and its impact on French culture, arguing that antiracism is a symptom of lost "proletarian hope" and constitutes a "substitute utopia".
[1] Yonnet's last book was the posthumously published Zone de mort (2017), in which he used literature, introspection and philosophy to reflect on human life and mortality.
Alexandre Devecchio of Le Figaro Magazine called it "a powerful meditation on the tragedy of the human condition".