Économie et management publics | University of Lille

The Master Public Economics and Management trains social scientists who will be specialists in public and territorial policies; general interest activities; incommon goods and social impact issues. 4 specializations : “pub. action & solidarity econ.” ; “analysis of work & sustain jobs", "econ dev and local econ” "Econ dev & humanitarian action"

How does the programme provide content to ensure students achieve an understanding of a reasonably diverse set of perspectives on understanding economies?

We welcome students from multidisciplinary backgrounds, economics, but also political science, sociology, social geography, and from transdisciplinary backgrounds (bach. in social sciences). We are convinced that this multidisciplinary is an enrichment for the students and for our program. All courses take for granted the fact that economics is a social science as any other. All lectures insist on the plurality of the observations, of the methods of analysis, of the theories and on reflexivity. The program focuses on the analysis of the (real) contemporary capitalism. And on the issue of activities, the general interest and common goods. These analyses, conducted at different scales (including international) provide the basis for critical analysis, evaluations, and public policies.  

How does the programme ensure students understand the interaction between economic and ecological systems?

All professors involved in EMP are fully aware of the issue of sustainability. All develop frameworks that capture the normative issues of the triple sustainability: social, ecological and democratic. Eg: a 24 hours lecture is dedicated to the new indicators of wealth, exploring the economic unsustainability’s through measurements as institutions (GDP, the limits of green growth etc.). Another lecture explores the economics of circularity and functionality economics and its critics. Others are explicitly focusing on local or international sustainable development. The programme also develops more professional projects during which students explore the concrete possibility of developing, for instance, community and Complementary Currencies; of developing experiments on the State in last resort; or on sustainable local mobility policies.  

How does the programme ensure students understand how to critically explore real-world evidence, both qualitative and quantitative?

The whole team of professors is part of the heterodox side of economics. They construct their analytical framework from the Theory of Regulation, Economics of Conventions, the Post Keynesian analysis, the Marxist analysis, and more broadly on socio-economic approaches. There is a permanent will and concern to have students finish the Master program with real professional and technical skills and simultaneously to provide them with the means to critically explore world evidence. In this perspective, we have, for instance a lecture on the evaluation of public policies, but we also have a lecture on the issues of the evaluation of public policies, insisting on the turn toward the evidence-based policies, and its consequences for social sciences, for the practitioners and more generally for the democracy.  

What pedagogical approaches does the programme use to ensure that students examine the historical context, assumptions and values in all economic thinking?

“Pluralism” is the key-word of our master. The professors are all trained in Heterodox Economics (Regulation Theory; Post Keynesian Theory; Economics of Conventions; Marxist perspectives; Socio-economics). The methodologies are grounded on an active pedagogy, on an insistence on controversies. Students must master both quantitative and qualitative methods of social sciences.     

How does the department ensure that the teaching culture and capacity to deliver economic pluralism are continually improving?

Up to now, there has been a strong willingness from the part of the Research Center (CLERSE, UMR-CNRS 8019) and the Social Science Faculty to ensure this pluralism. The whole team of professors is also very much aware in the necessity of pluralism for the reinforcement of democracy.