Critical Expertise: The Strength of a Weak Institution?

Abstract

This article analyzes the role played by the Comité du travail féminin (1965-1983) in the genesis of equal employment policy in France. Set up at the urging of women’s organizations, this advisory board held a marginal position in the French Department of Labor (no formal power, minimal material and human resources). It made up for this weakness, however, by making strategic use of its critical expertise, which enabled it to make a significant contribution to the definition of equal employment policy. Our analysis of the way in which the Committee produced and disseminated this expertise shows how its standing at the interface between the State and civil society, while at the root of its institutional powerlessness, simultaneously served as a political asset.

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