European Political and Administrative Elites

In the last decades, the sociography of political and administrative Elite has been a regularly renewed classical tendency in political analysis. Despite of this broad range of researches, studies on European political and administrative Elite, both in European institutions and in the application of EU policies, are still disregarded. This deficit can be explained by many reasons, especially the pre-eminence of a certain type of models (issued of international relations studies, law, economy…), as well as the lack of attention given to individual actors, except in succinct researches on national origins and institutional adherence. This section is devoted to the sociographical analysis of European political and administrative elite, both on problematical and methodological approaches. This includes all sociological topics of European actors, such as the study of administrative cultures in European institutions, the building of specific identities in European spheres, political attitudes of European civil servants, professionalization process of specialised actors in Europe. First of all, a sociography of actors of the European integration will allow to analyse the processes of differentiation of European Elite. We mean that the question of the links between specialisation of political roles and social differentiation is central. Actually, it is clear that the integration of European Elite is correlated to the processes of denationalisation of “habitus”. We can also deduce the existence of social predisposition to careers’ Europeanization and to occupancy of posts which distinguishes national from European Elite, or even European Elite among them : · To which extend the process of integration of European Elite rests on homology of first (national) positions and of trajectories ? · How can we explain the relative group cohesion of individuals despite of their adherence to distinct administrative and political cultures ? · Is it possible to notice the development of specific and / or collective resources linked to “predominant post” within the European institutions ? · It could allow to assess the level of homogenisation of the European space (to which extend do national differences become blurred in this space) ? · Can we also understand the modalities of differentiation of a specifically European group ? To this regard, panels will focus on differentiation processes of EU elite on national and European level. This will allow to re-examine with a new approach the definition of European public policies, which constitutes today the main specifically European achievement. The most recent works lead us to ask the following question : “How do govern those who govern ?” This question is a prolongation of the classical one, “who governs ?” This approach allows us to analyse the structuring of balance of power and the establishment of hierarchy within the European political space in terms of public policies networks. Actually, it seems that the “culture of compromise” does not mean the disappearance of balance of power, and that the latter is not only dependent on “national interests defense”. To continue, another aim will be to contribute to the understanding of “cognitive assessment” through the analysis of social basis. The beliefs of actors and the referential of policies seem clearly to be “constructions”. Nevertheless, they do not only proceed from a purely intellectual work, neither from interactions within the European frame. · Are these beliefs in line with balance of power defined in diverse resources of actors, and their abilities ? · To which extend is it possible to demonstrate how sociological features of Elite have promoted the ideas which define EU action (redefinition of the border between civil service and private sector, promotion of the pattern of “new European governance”, for example) ? CALL FOR PAPERS / CRITERIA FOR ACCEPTANCE This section is primarily interested in empirical oriented studies and field works, especially in a political sociology approach. We would particularly like to attract papers which introduce recent works, or works in progress. In particular we are keen to encourage panels with a view to advancing comparative and / or interdisciplinary approaches. Papers which offer insights about specialisation of political roles, social differentiation of elite, institutional adherence, collective action in the EU political space, are especially welcome. A particular attention will be given to social origin, academic background, training, social and political paths of actors in the European field. Please send proposals to : <a href='mailto:vschnabel@ifrance.com'>Virginie Schnabel</a>