Domopolitics in French Higher Education: (Re)Asserting the Nation-Home

TY - BOOK

T1 - Domopolitics in French Higher Education: (Re)Asserting the Nation-Home

AU - Zangrandi, Ester

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Focusing on French higher education under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron (2017-today), this dissertation explores the extension and impact of new nationalist discourses as they become entangled with the long-running ‘neoliberalisation’ of universities. The interaction of the two phenomena is analysed through the concept of ‘domopolitics’ which is defined as the government of the (nation-)state as a home (Walters, 2004). Through the lens of domopolitics, the thesis argues that neoliberal and new nationalist discourses cooperate in ‘domesticating’ French higher education to serve the interests and morals of the nation-home. The analysis will demonstrate how these ‘domestication’ processes unfold through the interconnected mobilisation of affect, time and space. The monograph will focus on two macro-areas of concern: 1) university autonomy and academic freedom and 2) internationalisation policies. The two areas encompass matters related to both teaching and research.Since the mid-2010s, radical right and (new) nationalist forces have extended their reach into higher education policy in several European countries. Promoted in defence of national interests and values, protectionist and exclusionary practices have affected different areas of higher education policy. Existing literature has documented how the ‘mainstreaming’ of such practices has resulted in growing pressures on academic freedom and enforced limitations on the international openness of universities. The case of France under Emmanuel Macron’s presidency (2017-today) is particularly compelling as it leads us to interrogate the apparent contradiction between the protectionist and exclusionary tenets of nationalism, and the neoliberal and pro-European political platform adopted by the French president.This monograph contributes to the field of higher education studies, focusing on the changing relationship between the nation-state and higher education. More specifically, the monograph contributes to recent scholarship on the impact of new (or neo-) nationalism on higher education, while also complementing existing studies on the ‘neoliberalisation’ of universities. Inherently interdisciplinary, my methodology is primarily indebted to affect theory - and more specifically to the work of Sara Ahmed (2014, 2020) - and social topology. Viewing time and space as inextricably entangled, topological approaches encourage researchers to unsettle pre-determined scales and units of analysis. The topological perspective aligns with the ‘multisited’ approach adopted for my fieldwork and with my choices concerning the diverse range of empirical materials collected and analysed. Conducted between 2022 and 2023, empirical work involved qualitative interviews, document analysis and - to a lesser extent - participant observation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with faculty members and administrative staff at three different higher education institutions, ministry officials, political representatives and experts in the field of higher education. The analysed documents included policy reports, press statements, parliamentary transcripts, speeches and interviews released by government members and political representatives, as well as policy texts adopted by EU institutions.This wide array of materials allowed me to examine how domopolitics manifests in different areas of higher education policy. The dissertation will showcase how the political discourse on university autonomy mobilises emotions such as fear, contempt and disillusion; how these affects become associated with specific places and temporalities; and how they contribute to drawing seemingly irreconcilable moral divides. The close connection between university autonomy and academic freedom will manifest in the interviews conducted with university faculty and administrative staff. Analysing these interviews revealed how neoliberal policies and practices have nurtured an intensely precarious environment, characterised by the constant ‘anticipation of fragile futures’ (Jefferson & Segal, 2019). In such a context of capillary uncertainty, academics have become the target of resounding political offensives questioning the scientific integrity of scholars involved in critical studies and portraying them as a threat to national unity and values. The dissertation delves into the matter and highlights how new nationalist discourses interact with the uncertainties fostered by the neoliberalisation of higher education, exposing how academic freedom is threatened by the entanglement of ideological and material constraints. Uncertainties and fears for the future are also mobilised in relation to internationalisation policies. National shame circulates through the government’s discourse on international competition. Fear emerges as the (wider) national space is portrayed as threatened by a loss of cultural influence. To allow the nation to recover its ‘rightful’ place, universities are called upon to reform and adopt exclusionary, competition-driven policies, shaped by the interplay of new nationalist and neoliberal discourses. The dissertation further showcases how the precarity fostered by neoliberalism facilitates the implementation of exclusionary measures deemed contrary to the identities and values of universities.By analysing different areas within the field of higher education, the monograph sheds light on the extensive and multifaceted impact of domopolitics. Through the interaction of new nationalist and neoliberal discourses, academic freedom and university autonomy are increasingly constrained, and internationalisation is re-oriented to serve the interests and values of the nation-home. As higher education is shaped into an object and an instrument of domopolitics, the pedagogical and scientific missions of universities are threatened, and their contribution to a democratic society is put at stake.

AB - Focusing on French higher education under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron (2017-today), this dissertation explores the extension and impact of new nationalist discourses as they become entangled with the long-running ‘neoliberalisation’ of universities. The interaction of the two phenomena is analysed through the concept of ‘domopolitics’ which is defined as the government of the (nation-)state as a home (Walters, 2004). Through the lens of domopolitics, the thesis argues that neoliberal and new nationalist discourses cooperate in ‘domesticating’ French higher education to serve the interests and morals of the nation-home. The analysis will demonstrate how these ‘domestication’ processes unfold through the interconnected mobilisation of affect, time and space. The monograph will focus on two macro-areas of concern: 1) university autonomy and academic freedom and 2) internationalisation policies. The two areas encompass matters related to both teaching and research.Since the mid-2010s, radical right and (new) nationalist forces have extended their reach into higher education policy in several European countries. Promoted in defence of national interests and values, protectionist and exclusionary practices have affected different areas of higher education policy. Existing literature has documented how the ‘mainstreaming’ of such practices has resulted in growing pressures on academic freedom and enforced limitations on the international openness of universities. The case of France under Emmanuel Macron’s presidency (2017-today) is particularly compelling as it leads us to interrogate the apparent contradiction between the protectionist and exclusionary tenets of nationalism, and the neoliberal and pro-European political platform adopted by the French president.This monograph contributes to the field of higher education studies, focusing on the changing relationship between the nation-state and higher education. More specifically, the monograph contributes to recent scholarship on the impact of new (or neo-) nationalism on higher education, while also complementing existing studies on the ‘neoliberalisation’ of universities. Inherently interdisciplinary, my methodology is primarily indebted to affect theory - and more specifically to the work of Sara Ahmed (2014, 2020) - and social topology. Viewing time and space as inextricably entangled, topological approaches encourage researchers to unsettle pre-determined scales and units of analysis. The topological perspective aligns with the ‘multisited’ approach adopted for my fieldwork and with my choices concerning the diverse range of empirical materials collected and analysed. Conducted between 2022 and 2023, empirical work involved qualitative interviews, document analysis and - to a lesser extent - participant observation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with faculty members and administrative staff at three different higher education institutions, ministry officials, political representatives and experts in the field of higher education. The analysed documents included policy reports, press statements, parliamentary transcripts, speeches and interviews released by government members and political representatives, as well as policy texts adopted by EU institutions.This wide array of materials allowed me to examine how domopolitics manifests in different areas of higher education policy. The dissertation will showcase how the political discourse on university autonomy mobilises emotions such as fear, contempt and disillusion; how these affects become associated with specific places and temporalities; and how they contribute to drawing seemingly irreconcilable moral divides. The close connection between university autonomy and academic freedom will manifest in the interviews conducted with university faculty and administrative staff. Analysing these interviews revealed how neoliberal policies and practices have nurtured an intensely precarious environment, characterised by the constant ‘anticipation of fragile futures’ (Jefferson & Segal, 2019). In such a context of capillary uncertainty, academics have become the target of resounding political offensives questioning the scientific integrity of scholars involved in critical studies and portraying them as a threat to national unity and values. The dissertation delves into the matter and highlights how new nationalist discourses interact with the uncertainties fostered by the neoliberalisation of higher education, exposing how academic freedom is threatened by the entanglement of ideological and material constraints. Uncertainties and fears for the future are also mobilised in relation to internationalisation policies. National shame circulates through the government’s discourse on international competition. Fear emerges as the (wider) national space is portrayed as threatened by a loss of cultural influence. To allow the nation to recover its ‘rightful’ place, universities are called upon to reform and adopt exclusionary, competition-driven policies, shaped by the interplay of new nationalist and neoliberal discourses. The dissertation further showcases how the precarity fostered by neoliberalism facilitates the implementation of exclusionary measures deemed contrary to the identities and values of universities.By analysing different areas within the field of higher education, the monograph sheds light on the extensive and multifaceted impact of domopolitics. Through the interaction of new nationalist and neoliberal discourses, academic freedom and university autonomy are increasingly constrained, and internationalisation is re-oriented to serve the interests and values of the nation-home. As higher education is shaped into an object and an instrument of domopolitics, the pedagogical and scientific missions of universities are threatened, and their contribution to a democratic society is put at stake.

KW - Higher education

KW - New nationalisms

KW - Domopolitics

KW - France

KW - Neoliberalism

KW - University

KW - Internationalisation

KW - Academic freedom

M3 - Ph.D. thesis

BT - Domopolitics in French Higher Education: (Re)Asserting the Nation-Home

PB - Aarhus University

ER -