Who governs defense companies? A sociological approach to contemporary capitalisms in France and Britain

This article seeks to make a sociological contribution to the study of capitalism in France and Britain. The relationship to the State, the internationalisation and financiarization of major defence industry company managers’ careers are analysed for Safran, Thales, BAe Systems and Rolls-Royce. We go beyond the controversy between the convergence or divergence of national defence capitalisms by unveiling a counter-intuitive and unexpected reality, namely their simultaneity. Specifically, whilst on both sides of the English Channel the practices of the directors of these large companies are more structured than hitherto by the internationalization of their training and their knowledge of finance, their relationship to the state remains profoundly different.