The French social protection system in the throes of reform (1975-2007).

The French system of social protection, contrary to many simplistic accounts, has undergone quite a great number of reforms in the past 30 years. This were very differentiated across sectors but also appear as linked to the business cycle. The French system, in its present developments does not manifest a too simplistic "path-dependency", because of its hybrid character : it is not easy to insert it into the traditional tripartition of welfare regimes, and, precisely because of this hybrid nature, the current developments can be explained in terms of the "imprint" of past history, which has perhaps always been hybrid. This text is a follow-up to the book written with Bruno Théret, Le nouveau système français de protection sociale (Editions La Découverte).