During the second half of the 20th century, almost all European countries experienced a movement of expansion and democratisation of secondary education, of which the effects were particularly analysed in view of social mobility and labour market. The research project proposed here deals with the cultural effects of that expansion, first through the study of education policies carried out in several European countries in relation with secondary education expansion; then through the various European models of public intervention in the cultural field, depending on the place given to the different levels of public decisions (local/national) and on the importance given to support the supply (i.e. provide help for creation and dissemination) or the cultural demand; and finally through the central mobilisation of data from surveys on the cultural practices and consumptions available at the European scale (Eurobarometre surveys and national surveys).
The project aims at evaluating the consequences of educational expansion in a comparative perspective and in the view of cultural practices and consumptions on the one hand, and from the effects of the various modalities of public intervention in cultural matters on the other. Scientifically, the findings of this project would enable a better understanding of cultural dimensions in stratification, social mobility and the elevation of school certificates at the European scale. They will provide compared analyses of the effects of social background, education and socialisation (family/friends) on the orientation of the behaviours towards leisure and social practices. The results of the research project are also intended to provide tools for the evaluation of European public policies in culture and education.