French intellectuals have always defined themselves in political terms. They figure in common representation as oppositional figures set against State and government. But speaking truth to power is not the only way that intellectuals in France have brought their influence to bear upon political fields. Ahearne’s book explores a neglected dimension of French intellectuals’ practice. What happens when, instead of denouncing from without the worlds of government and public policy, French intellectuals become voluntarily, at least for a while, entangled within those worlds? After a historical and theoretical overview, the heart of the book is constituted by a series of case studies exploring policy domains in which strategies for shaping the broad ‘culture’ of France have been debated and developed. These comprise issues of laicity and secularization, reform of the educational curriculum, programmes of cultural ‘democratization’ and ‘democracy’, and public television programming. It explores the policy engagement of intellectuals such as Pierre Bourdieu, Michel de Certeau, André Malraux, Cathérine Clément, Régis Debray, Francis Jeanson, Henri Wallon, Blandine Kriegel, and Edgar Morin. ‘An interesting and stimulating read … I shall be recommending elements of this book as higher-level reading for students taking undergraduate modules on 'Republican values' and the French education system and 'French Popular culture'. I am sure that many other colleagues elsewhere in British and US universities will want to do likewise.’ Hugh Dauncey, Newcastle University.

"The subtlety of this book lies in its perceptive analyses of those situations in which the intellectuals studied combine expertise and critical attention (…). The author maps out the basis for a renewed reflection on the place of the intellectual in contemporary societies which, more than ever, need public debates and figures who can animate them in a responsible (expert) and vivacious (critical) manner. Through this way of interrogating the past to respond to the challenges of the present, the author breathes refreshing new life into the history of intellectuals.
François Chaubet, Vingtième Siècle, Issue 110" - Vingtième Siècle, Issue 110

"... a timely and instructive text …, an excellent intervention into the ongoing development of cultural policy studies itself.

Dave O'Brien, Cultural Trends

"Ahearne’s study is to be welcomed for the contributions it makes to our understanding of both French policy-making and of French intellectual history. In the domain of policy-making, Ahearne offers new insights into the frequent use made by successive French governments of public intellectuals to legitimise their actions. As regards intellectual history, he usefully illuminates some of the ways in which French intellectuals have sought to find practical applications for their theoretical ideas.

Jeremy F. Lane, Modern and Contemporary France