Pathways to Eurocracy: A Study of International Orientations among French Students Who Pursue EU Careers

The market for degrees preparing for careers in European politics has developed over the last 20 years. Starting from the French case, this paper proposes to understand how students move towards these orientations. Based on mixed-methods sociological study, the article shows that students in European politics masters programmes are not so much from the international upper bourgeoisie as from the rising middle and upper social classes, for whom international capital is a distinctive resource. Then, it shows that pursuing a European career allows them to reconcile two seemingly contradictory rationales: on the one hand the incentive to specialise urgently to enter the job market and on the other hand the eagerness to prolong their Erasmus experience. The driving force behind these careers is accordingly as in the possibility of starting more an international career than a European one.