Talk ‘French in London and the Brexit Question: Did Anything Change?’

Patrick Le Galès (SciencesPo/OxPo)

London and Paris (urban regions) have become world cities, more globalised. Exchanges have risen and the Eurostar has allowed for large scale mobility between the two. The research on French in London and English in Paris aims at trying to identify patterns of mobility and the making of a London/Paris Upper middle class. The presentation will deal with London where three series of interviews took place in 2017, 2019, and /2025. It argues that  Brexit has created a cleavage between those French middle classes that keeps playing with agility between London and Paris and those who distanced themselves from France, including in terms of strategies for their children, real estate or citizenship

Patrick Le Galès is CNRS research professor at Sciences Po in sociology, political science and urban studies, at the Centre for European studies and comparative politics. He is a fellow of the British Academy, the Academia Europea, l'Académie des technologies. He is a co editor of the European Journal of Sociology. and was the founding Dean of Sciences Po Urban School. His current work deals with transational mobility and urban class making, the governance of large metropolis (WHIG, What is governed and not governed in large metropolis Paris, London, Sao Paulo, Mexico, Milan, Hong Kong), the restructuring of the state and public policies in Europe (including the UK). Publications include Globalised minds roots in the city (2015) with A.Andreotti and J.Fuentes; Reconfigurating European states in Europe, (with D.King), 2017, La métropole parisienne, une anarchies organisée (with F.Artioli) 2024, The Routledge Handbook of comparative global studies (with J.Robinson), 2024, The instrumentation of public policies (with C.Halpern, P.Lascoumes) Forthcoming 2025.