Thesis defense by Violette Larrieu
Ms. Violette Larrieu defended her thesis entitled "Outsourcing defense: between 'market mimicry' and 'state self-interest'. Aviation restoration and maintenance policies during Nicolas Sarkozy's five-year term (2007-2012)" on Thursday, December 3, 2020, at 2:30 p.m.
Abstract: This political science thesis focuses on policies to outsource support activities for the armed forces (catering, aircraft maintenance) in France during Nicolas Sarkozy's five-year term (2007-2012). This work shows that outsourcing decisions illustrate the implementation of state reform and the desire of those responsible for it to streamline their actions. As an instrument of public action, outsourcing provokes resistance from the personnel concerned, including not only military personnel but also—and above all—civilian staff unions, leading senior officials and political actors to seek compromises in their choice of management tools. This maintenance of a capacity to "do" is part of the logic of a restructuring of the state in order to better "get things done." Our work presents two case studies, the restoration of the armed forces and the maintenance of aeronautical equipment, based on 80 semi-structured interviews and a large corpus of primary sources. This thesis uses public policy analysis to understand the development and implementation of the policies studied, in particular through an approach based on public policy instruments. Through the analysis of the practices and beliefs of the actors involved, our thesis takes a fresh look at "invisible" policies relating to support activities, which have been little explored in academic literature. It thus helps to "demilitarize" defense policies by highlighting the role of unions and show
's contribution to the study of defense policies, particularly in order to understand the transformations of the state at work.
Keywords: outsourcing policy, defense policy, defense support activities, public policy, government, streamlining.
