Thesis defense by Manon Ratel

Ms. Manon Ratel defended her thesis entitled "Territorial governance of the school system. Contribution to the study of a sectorization system" on Friday, November 19, 2021, at 1:00 p.m.

Abstract: How is the school system governed in the region? This thesis draws on the trajectory of a school zoning system to understand the change in local public action. Based on an in-depth empirical study and a multi-level strategic analysis, I reveal the complexity of the network of actors and the intertwining of responsibilities surrounding the school system in the local political and administrative organization. This instrumental and experimental approach opens up analytical perspectives at the intersection of heterogeneous issues (educational, political, social, urban, security, etc.) that have been refracted in the trajectory of the system. I thus show how a series of instruments, public and private actors, ideas, values, and practices shape and guide public action.

This research sheds light on the decision to close a segregated middle school and reassign its students to other areas in the name of diversity. It contributes to the study of implementation and change in public policy. Tracing the trajectory of the zoning system contributes to the study of state governance through the prism of the political and social activity of a territory. Among other things, it shows that the territorial governance of the school system is a routine and discontinuous process, in which the level of involvement by the actors depends more or less directly on the quality of the opportunities that arise from it. This thesis reveals the governance process of an uncertain political project, urban change, governance of bodies, budgets, and values, but also security, in the school system.

Keywords: governance – social inequalities – territory – public education policy – measures

Composition of the jury:

• Anne BARRÈRE, Professor, Paris Descartes University (examiner)
• Renaud EPSTEIN, Professor, Sciences Po Saint-Germain-en-Laye (chair)
• Patrick LE GALÈS, Professor, Sciences Po Paris (rapporteur)
• Jean-Paul PAYET, Professor, University of Geneva (examiner)
• Gilles PINSON, Professor, Sciences Po Bordeaux (rapporteur)
• Geneviève ZOïA, Professor, University of Montpellier (director)