The Jean Monnet Chair (EU-CONV): presentation
The European Union is first and foremost a project to achieve integration. It promotes the convergence of European societies around an emerging economic, social and environmental model – the social market economy – formalized by the Lisbon Treaty.
The EU-CONV Chair examines the history of this convergence until now through the policies, debate and criticism that have shaped the definition of a European model over time. The Europeanization of societies is a compromise reached between the liberal, legislative, social and power-based Europes possible; between combined logics of the market, state, solidarity and ecology; between policies driven by institutionalization and social unrest in response to resulting change. Breaking with an institutional analysis of European construction, the long-term objective of the EU-CONV Chair is to improve our understanding of this slow shift of societies towards a common project.
Academic program and partnerships
The Jean Monnet EU-CONV Chair, co-funded by the European Union and Sciences Po Rennes, promotes excellence in teaching and research in the field of European studies. It is a three-year Chair and will run from 2024 to 2027.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Chairholder: Mathieu Dubois
Mathieu Dubois is a lecturer in contemporary history at Sciences Po Rennes.
He obtained a doctorate from Sorbonne Université and Augsburg University in Germany. He holds an accreditation to supervise research and has worked as a researcher and professor in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and the United Arab Emirates. Currently, he is head of the agiR Master of International Relations(International analysis and governance of risks and resources) at Sciences Po Rennes. He is the author of several publications on France, Germany and Europe, including:
- L’économie sociale de marché à la conquête de l’Europe. L’influence de la diplomatie allemande sur le modèle économique et social européen, Rennes, Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2024.
- Die liberale Kraft Europas: Die Soziale Marktwirtschaft in der Europapolitik der Bundesrepublik, 1953-1993, Bielefeld, Transcript Verlag, 2024
- Les conséquences économiques de Mai 68 : du désordre social français à l’ordre monétaire européen, Bruxelles, Peter Lang, 2018
- Génération politique : les années 1968 dans les jeunesses des partis politiques en France et en RFA, Paris, PUPS, 2014
Objectives
Over its duration, the Jean Monnet EU-CONV Chair will offer the following:
- Classes in European studies at Sciences Po Rennes for second- and fourth-year French and international students enrolled in the double French-German degree or the Master of Europe and Global Affairs (EAM). Certain classes will be taught by Alan Hervé, Professor of European Law and Head of the EAM Master’s degree.
- Initiatives to promote European studies at annual conferences and public events, including a project with Sciences Po students to create online content and promote the sharing of knowledge about the European model.
- Individual research in the form of publications is possible, along with team research projects. An international symposium is planned for 2026.
Governance and structure
Governance and management of the Chair is ensured by two committees:
- an internal steering committee at Sciences Po Rennes that ensures project management and administration,
- a scientific committee that meets annually. Its members are Professors Gerd-Rainer Horn (Sciences Po Paris), Laurent Warlouzet (Sorbonne Université) and Birte Wassenberg (Sciences Po Strasbourg).
