Caesars and Rubicon: the hesitations of French policymakers in identifying a Third Way in education and training

Abstract

This paper examines the decisions made by French policymakers at a time when France was uncertain about which option to take. The purpose is to follow how actors chart their own course in an environment with plural justifications and how they mobilise resources in several spheres to set up ever‐changing networks. The investigation will bear on all levels of education, including lifelong learning as France has adopted this European recommendation. The analysis will be divided into three parts after an overview of Third Way opportunities in France over the whole period considered. The false continuation between the focus on localism and the autonomy of schools will first be explored. The second part will address the true break with the school model of the first modernity: the ideal of equal opportunities, public confidence in the state, and separation between schooling and common social life. In a third part, the analysis will be focused on the current difficulties faced by policymakers to make decisions in an environment with plural justifications.