Contenu du sommaire : Les élites dirigeantes : une recomposition en trompe-l'œil ?

The development of the French elitist system can be examined by considering the new professional paths taken by Finance inspectors for whom a departure towards the private sector (pantouflage) has become more frequent and riskier, even though the groundwork is better prepared. The new model of « pantouflage » is analysed from prosopographical datasets that cover the period 1958 to 2008.

This article examines French directors of cac 40 companies at the end of 2007 with a focus on what higher education courses they followed. Former students from the more elite Grandes Écoles (hec business schools along with Polytechnique military engineering schools and the National School of Administration [ena]) continue to dominate and there is still a tendency to recruit from the upper echelons of the State.

With a view to shedding light on what a person needs to be accepted into the core management elite, we examine the socio-demographic characteristics, the training and the professional paths of the directors of the top 100 French companies (as quoted on the stock exchange). Ultimately it transpires that being a member of the « upper middle class » or indeed being an « heir » to a company are strong advantages whereas an international career can be a handicap.

The French system of educating the so-called elite has been widely condemned for remaining relatively closed to pupils from the state sector. As a reaction to these criticisms several Grandes Écoles attempted an « open door » experiment at the start of the decade. In consequence of these ground-breaking efforts the number of initiatives grew dramatically and once the « open door » approach had been established by some of the major players in the field, it effectively became a contributing factor in their constant jostling for position. An examination of the progression of the approach thus demonstrates how institutions as a group have attempted to reaffirm and relegitimise the distinctiveness of the French model as applied to the training of an elite while at the same time striving as individual institutions to improve their relative standing within the sector.

By giving priority to a diplomatic approach, networks of women managers have succeeded in underlining the impact that sexual discrimination has had in the distribution of power roles within companies. However, on a global scale this trend is running up against some stubborn local resistance.

This article examines the methods used in choosing regional directors of decentralised municipal services via « old school tie » selection procedures and reconstructs the professional backgrounds of individuals who previously occupied the post. It highlights the singular nature of this administrative elite whose creation in part casts doubt upon a corporative hierarchy which is directly associated with engineering schools.

How can we envisage professionalism in sociology when sociology itself lacks a solid professional status ? And how can we forestall the risk of it being absorbed by other related professional subject areas ? This article questions the resources for action that are on offer within the discipline in order to reflect on the necessary stance to take in the light of « social demands ».