Contesting and re-negotiating the national in French cities: examining policies of governance, Europeanisation and co-option in Marseille and Lyon (original) (raw)

The governance of French towns. From centre-periphery relations to urban regimes

Analise Social, 2010

This article defends the idea that it is no longer satisfactory to study the forms of governance of the French cities through the centre-periphery analytical framework. The devolution of new functions to urban governments, the transformations on capitalism, and States’ policies have turned French cities from mere implementation spaces of public policies built at other levels to central actors on urban policy production. The horizontal relationships connecting urban actors might be the first explanation for new scopes and shapes of local urban policies. It is therefore legitimate to study urban governance and policies in French cities through theoretical tools granting a primary role to the interactions between urban actors and groups and to the conflicts and coalitions in which they are involved. Amongst these theoretical tools the urban regimes approach seems particularly promising.

Power and governance: Metropolitan governance in France

Stud, 2005

The system of metropolitan governance in France has undergone a series of rather dramatic changes over the past 40 years. Where central cities and their powerful mayors once enjoyed a privileged position over other territorial actors, they now find themselves depending upon these other authorities to fulfil many basic governance tasks. Moreover, a layer of organisations, agencies and networks has formed to co-ordinate the collective action of these actors in areas of mutual concern. The increased importance of co-operation and partnerships in metropolitan governance has led to the prominence of the concept of functionalist power (interdependency and co-operation) in many of the analyses of metropolitan governance. By contrast, distributive conceptions of power (hierarchy and conflict) have largely been suppressed, weakening the abilities of scholars to account for a key component responsible for shaping the relational space of actors. The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that accounts for both aspects of power, and to use this framework to explain changes in the French governance system. In addition, the paper presents the case of Toulouse to provide a concrete illustration of how local actors have responded to changes in their governance systems.

The limits to local participation and deliberation in the French "politique de la ville"

European Journal of Political Research, 2007

Over the past twenty years in France, the politique de la ville (a public policy initiative targeting impoverished urban areas) has constituted one of the main sources of renewal of the discourse concerning social participation. This article looks at whether it has led to a genuine democratisation of policy making. The following four questions are discussed: Have participatory procedures improved the efficiency of public policy? Have they fostered the strengthening of the social bond? Has setting up new procedures improved deliberation between political and nonpolitical actors? And has this new policy generated a renewal of local elites and modified the decision-making process? The authors conclude that these different attempts have had only a very limited impact.

The Local Turn in Integration Policies: Why French Cities Differ

Ethnic and racial studies

This article examines how three major French cities designed their immigrant incorporation policies in the early 21st century. While political and administrative structures are similar in these cities, the favored approaches-integration, equality, diversity-and the importance assigned to the issue of migration differed. Four factors explain the local shape of immigrant incorporation policies: the relationship with national authorities, the mobilization of European opportunities, the capacities of civil society, and the career paths of policy officers. This qualitative research provides insights on the "local turn" of migration policy in practice. It further illustrates how French cities may overcome a national model, although their fight against ethno-racial inequalities remains weak and inconsequent. ARTICLE HISTORY

The governance of French towns : from the centre-periphery scheme to urban regimes

Análise Social, 2010

Acces au PDF sur le site de la revue [ http://analisesocial.ics.ul.pt/documentos/1292288112S5hEW4xd5Do97FW9.pdf ] "This article defends the idea that it is no longer satisfactory to study the forms of governance of the French cities through the centre-periphery analytical framework. The devolution of new functions to urban governments, the transformations on capitalism, and States' policies have turned French cities from mere implementation spaces of public policies built at other levels to central actors on urban policy production. The horizontal relationships connecting urban actors might be the first explanation for new scopes and shapes of local urban policies. It is therefore legitimate to study urban governance and policies in French cities through theoretical tools granting a primary role to the interactions between urban actors and groups and to the conflicts and coalitions in which they are involved. Amongst these theoretical tools the urban regimes approach seems ...

Networked cities and steering states: Urban policy circulations and the reshaping of State–cities relationships in France

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 2018

This article focuses on the circulation of urban policy “models” and its influence on the reshaping of relationships between State and cities in France. It suggests that the increasing mobility of practices and knowledge between cities cannot be explained solely by the intensification of horizontal exchanges involving city halls throughout Europe. It also relies on the restructuring of the State and the transformation of its intervention in urban policymaking processes. By considering the Programme National de Rénovation Urbaine and the Plan Ville Durable, the article highlights the emergence of a new model of State–cities relationships characterized by the tracking of local “exemplary” initiatives, and by their certification and diffusion by the central State itself. This new model of relationships allows the State to strengthen its capacity to steer urban policies at a distance, without actually challenging the rise in power of French cities.

Influences on State-Society Relations in France: Analysing Voluntary Associations and Multicultural Dynamism, Co-option and Retrenchment in Paris, Lyon and Marseille.

Abstract: French governance’s ad-hoc pluralism (Dunn 1995; Cole 2008) has offered scope for the emergence of increasing policy dynamism, particularly at the local level (Moore 2002; Raymond and Modood 2007). Important in this process is the relationship between the local state and voluntary associations (Leveau and Wihtol de Wenden 2007; Kepel 2012). However, it still remains little understood what external, exogenous factors shape, challenge and facilitate this relationship between the local state and voluntary associations. This paper seeks to contribute to filling this gap with a comparative analysis of three voluntary associations across Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Chosen for their varying experiences of exogenous influences on their relationship to the local state, the analysis demonstrates that, while offering public recognition to migrant communities has become increasingly possible at the local level, the process remains very much contested, even subject to retrenchment. (Forthcoming in Ethnicities 2015)