Home>Patrick Le Galès
Patrick Le Galès
CNRS Research Professor
Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), Urban School
Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), of the Academia Europaea, et de l'Académie des Technologies. CNRS Silver Medal.
Research Interest(s): Public action, European Union, Local policy, Urban sociology, Public policies
Discipline(s): Political Science, Sociology
Language(s): English
Biography
Patrick Le Galès is CNRS (National Scientific Research Centre) Research Professor of Sociology, Politics and Urban Studies at Sciences Po. He was the founding Dean of Sciences Po Urban School (2015-2022) and is involved in different research groups about comparative sociology, "cities are back in town", the policy state, political economy.. He is a co-editor of the . Prior to this he was the editor of the International Journal of Urban and regional Research , the president of SASE (Society for Advanced Socio economics), a former trustee of the Foundation for Urban and Regional Research, a member of ERC panels, a founding member of the MAXPO centre (Max Planck Society/Sciences Po), a member of the CNRS scientific Council; and a member of the CIFAR project on successful societies (M.Lamont, P.Hall, P.Pierson).
He was educated at Sciences Po, Nuffield College Oxford (M.litt.) and the University of Paris X Nanterre (Phd). Previous appointments include ARENE/Sciences Po Rennes and King's College London.He is a member of a Jean Monnet EULAS network and the doctoral EU Marie Curie network LAC EU about relations between Europe and Latin America.
His researches mostly deals with : 1) Urban sociology/urban political economy in large metropolis and European cities (middle classes, governance, urban conflicts, mobility, economic development, inequalities, digitalisation): 2) Comparative Public policy, policy instruments and the political sociology of the state, 3)Economic sociology/political economy – the making of a market society and the sociology of Europe with a special interest for the UK and the financialisation of housing and real estate.
He is currently working on the comparison of modes of governance (What is governed and not governed?) and urban development in Paris, London, Sao Paulo, Mexico) , including books on Paris and Mexico. He is also working on French in London and British in Paris about the making of a transnational middle class, conflicts and identity with Deborah Fromm. With Desmond King he works on the reconfiguration of the post Brexit state. With Philippe Bezes he is developing the concept of the policy state. He continues research on the making and the legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympic games and housing markets and policies in London and Paris.
He was a visiting professor/fellows in different universities in particular at EUI Florence, UCLA, the Max Planck Institute for the study of societies in Cologne, NYU, Milan Bicocca, Colegio de Mexico, Northwestern, University of Helsinki, University of Sao Paulo, IUAV Venice, Hong Kong Baptist University, Waseda Tokyo, Luiss Rome, Hong Kong University, Nuffield College Oxford..
He received the GRALE CNRS (local politics) prize for his Phd thesis in 1991, the CNRS bronze medal in 1996 (excellence prize for young academics ), the Stein Rokkan prize in 2002 for comparative research in Europe (International Social Science Council and ECPR) for his book European cities, social conflicts and governance , the Il Mulino/Bolognamondo prize for the Italian version of the book. He got the Award of Excellence for research in political science from the Mattei Dogan / French Political Science Association Foundation in 2007, the Regional Studies Association Best Paper Award 2017, for the journal Territory, Politics, Governance, for the paper "Neoliberalism and Urban Change: Stretching a Good Idea Too Far?" . In 2018 he was awarded the prestigious CNRS silver Medal for research.
His main books include : Regions in Europe the paradox of power (with C. Lequesne, Routledge, 1997), Politiques urbaines et développement local en France et UK (L’Harmattan, 1993); Cities in contemporary Europe ( with A. Bagnasco), CUP 2000; The changing governance of local economies in Europe (with C. Crouch and al. OUP, 2004); European Cities, social conflicts and governance (OUP, 2002), Gouverner par les instruments (with P. Lascoumes Presses de Sciences Po 2004); The New Labour experiment (with F.Faucher, Standford University Press 2010). Globalising minds, roots in the cities, upper middle classes in EUrope? (with A. Andreotti and J. Moreno Fuentes) Wiley/ 2015; Reconfigurating european states in crisis (with Desmond King, OUP, 2017) ; Gobernando la ciudad de méxico. Lo que se gobierna y lo que no se gobierna en una gran metrópoli , (with V.Ugalde) Colejio de Mexico 2017 ; Gouverner la ville numérique, (with A.Courmont), PUF, 2019. Gouverner la métropole parisienne. État, conflits, institutions, réseaux . Presses de Sciences Po. 2020;The Handbook of comparative global urban studies (with J.Robinson), Routledge 2024; La métropole Parisienne comme anarchie organisée (with F.Artioli), Presses de Sciences Po 2024; Instrumentation : debates and controversies (with C.Halpern, P.Lascoumes), Edward Elgar 2026.
He is the co editor of two book series: Gouvernances with the Presses de Sciences Po, Urban and Social Change Wiley now University of California Press.
He has published two online courses: MOOC "Cities are back in town, urban sociology for a globalising world" and "Searching for the grand Paris".