This symposium follows on the meetings held in Cadiz and Istanbul. To shed light on the construction of a European space of education it is important that social sciences from different countries should go beyond their national traditions and, together, elaborate a critical and reflexive approach of the process. Journals can be powerful contributors as for years they have, each in their space, analysed the evolutions of policies and scientific questioning. The point is to further their work without making a break with tradition, by setting up a common space to examine current evolutions through the prism of issues collectively elaborated. This conference aims at operationalizing these intentions by analyzing the emergence of the post-comprehensive school in Europe.

The post-comprehensive school was indeed the guiding principle in European educational policies from the end of the Second World War to the 1960s and 1970s. It is a well-known fact that those policies did not meet the expectations placed on them. They have been highly criticized since the 1960s onwards. The sociology of education, which was on the wane after the durkhemian period, was mainly rebuilt within this framework: by analysing the disillusions of the Welfare State, even denouncing a mystification, questioning the principles underlying the curricula, levelling criticism at bureaucracy, etc. The comprehensive approach was officially abandoned by some countries in favour of policies in line with approaches like lifelong learning and accountability. Other countries remain in principle attached to equality of opportunity but analyses point out to multiple shiftings, and decisions are based on the same performance indicators as those used by countries which have given up on the comprehensive project.

The goal of the symposium would be to combine the cultures of several European journals so as to set up a new outlook which would follow both the evolution of policies as well as the positioning of social sciences.

To launch this process, the symposium will aim at analyzing the highly ambiguous notion of post-comprehensive school by focusing on a few issues. The following list will be extended as the work will progress.

• It is necessary to take stock of the situation since some countries have explicitly rejected the comprehensive project, while others maintain the reference to equality of opportunity. How real is this reference? What new measures falling within this ideal have been taken in the last ten years? Do they take the outcomes of social sciences into account?

•How are policies conducted in an environment with several definitions of the educational common good of equal dignity: equality, performance, community integration, respect of differences, children’s happiness, etc. How are compromises elaborated? Are they clearly spelt out and submitted to public debate?

•How is the issue of relationships between State and market raised? Lots of studies converge to present the widening range of educational offer as the condition for efficiency and a new form of equality. How to obtain this diversification: through market regulation? State policies? Control of local communities?