(Un)usual suspects ? Le pouvoir idéationnel des experts dans la construction et diffusion du paradigme de la compétition interterritoriale dans les villes françaises

Abstract

This article analyzes the diffusion of the “competitive city-regionalism” paradigm, based on the case of urban economic development policies in large French cities. It shows that the emergence and diffusion of this paradigm can be explained by the ideational power of the public and private experts who have built a professional career around this issue. The article insists on a specific attribute of these actors, namely their early inclusion in state networks, and studies the processes through which their ideational power plays out in urban public action. This paradigm, which was long dominant, is now being sidelined in favour of a new political cycle of urban policies.

Keywords

• interterritorial competition
• expert
• ideational power
• France
• urban economic development policies