Research institutions in France: between the Republic of science and the nation-state in crisis

Abstract

The French science and technology system has developed according to a `Colbertist model'. However, strong incentives for centralization and coordination coexist with large degrees of freedom within public scientific institutions, particularly those supporting academic science. This system has undergone slow but deep changes during the last two decades: institutional innovations have been put forth, and political initiatives have been taken to increase cooperation between academic science and the economy. In this paper, some of the consequences of these institutional innovations are assessed, particularly with regard to knowledge production. It is shown that, although the innovations were limited, they tended to change the context in which academic science is undertaken. Some paradoxes of the French system, in particular the relative weakness of its scientific production in the engineering sciences, are emphasized. Finally it is shown that the research system is deeply involved in the crisis of the nation state, which can no more pilot technological and scientific development as in the decades following the Second World War.