Une Exception Française ? The Politicization of IR Professors Recruitment in France.

The goal of my paper is to present France?s particular university landscape. For a North American the French system seems very complex. And in fact it is! The paper will thus present the numerous power struggles within the French academic system in order to show how it cuts many French scholars from cross-cultural dialogue and even from a fruitful domestic knowledge cumulation. The aim is not to ?accuse? the French system (in comparison with other systems) but to try to clarify the different sectors where struggles can happen. The first level where power struggle happens is between Paris and the rest of France (la province). If you are from a Parisian university or a Grande École (another French peculiarity) and you try to have a job in a ?provincial? university you can run into difficulties having a post. Usually, a ?local? will have the job. On the other hand, for a ?provincial?, it?s very hard to have a post in Paris or achieve the agrégation to become a Professeur des universités. This introduces the second peculiarity of the French system: the difference between a Maître de conférences des universités, a Professeur des universités and a research fellow (chercheur). The difference between the two first is hierarchical while the one between the two firsts and the third concerns their functions. The firsts are primarily supposed to teach (and write some things) while the latter are supposed to do ?research? (and incidentally) teach. Of course there is rivalry amongst all of them. The argument of the paper is the following: the competition between those different groups (Parisians against Provincials, Professeurs against Chercheurs) weakens the French International Relations (IR) community. Internal rivalries are so strong that they impede the development of an effective contribution from the French scholars to the international IR debate. Worst! It tends to hinder the development of a fertile dialogue in an otherwise rich intellectual national production. The paper is not normative. It will not advance propositions to transform the French academic practice. In the meantime, by pinpointing the ?peculiarities? of this system, it hopes to contribute to, first, a better understanding of this system and, second, to draw attention of the French scholars themselves on there own weakness. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]