By a Teaching Assistant at the University of Nanterre Last year, for six months, a broad strike paralyzed most universities in France, from February 2nd to the end of May, against a decree enforcing a new law called LRU (Law for Responsible Universities). 76 out of 82 universities organized General Assemblies at which most teachers [...]

French Sociological Association French Version A few weeks after Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of the French Republic, he passed the law relative to the Liberties and Responsibilities of Universities (LRU) that aimed at decentralizing financing and human resources management of universities. The law was passed during the summer of 2007 but caused stronger disruptions [...]

Brice Le Gall and Charles Soulié French Version In the last thirty years, the French system of higher education has undergone major transformations that have called into question its academic ethos and have prepared universities for current authoritarian and managerial reforms. An increase in the student population was followed by a rapid expansion of the [...]

Association Française de Sociologie English Version Quelques semaines après son élection à la présidence de la République française, Nicolas Sarkozy a fait passer une loi dite LRU (loi relative aux Libertés et aux Responsabilités des Universités) qui visait à décentraliser la gestion des universités tant en matière de finances que de personnel. Cette loi a [...]

Brice Le Gall et Charles Soulié English Version Au cours des trente dernières années, le système d’enseignement supérieur français a connu des transformations majeures contribuant à mettre en crise l’ethos académique et à préparer les universitaires aux réformes autoritaires et managériales actuelles. L’augmentation des effectifs étudiants s’est traduite par une forte expansion du corps enseignant [...]

ANCMSP The French Association of Political Science Job Applicants (ANCMSP) has been monitoring French research and higher education policies for over fifteen years. In the past few years, its work shows that governmental reforms are seriously damaging universities and academia, both of which were already suffering from severe underfunding within the dual French system, a [...]

By Bruno Cousin and Michèle Lamont, Harvard University Between February and June 2009, French universities were the theatre of an exceptional protest movement against the latest flavour of governmental reform concerning academic careers. Protest sometimes seems to be a way of life in the French academy, and in France at large, but this time the [...]