dans la sociologie francaise contemporaine, on utilise le concept de "domination" comme s'il etait substituable a celui de "Herrschaft" en allemand. On montre qu'il n'en est rien, et que les concepts... more
dans la sociologie francaise contemporaine, on utilise le concept de "domination" comme s'il etait substituable a celui de "Herrschaft" en allemand. On montre qu'il n'en est rien, et que les concepts utilises par Max Weber d'une part, et Pierre Bourdieu, de l'autre, ne correspondent pas. D'ou la suggestion dans le domaine des politiques sociales, d'utiliser des concepts moins polymorphes, comme par exemple, "hegemonie" ou "controle social".
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Analysing the categories used by the authors of the articles published in the Revue francaise des Affaires sociales – Revue francaise du Travail shows that usage varies according to perceptions of public action in the domain of... more
Analysing the categories used by the authors of the articles published in the Revue francaise des Affaires sociales – Revue francaise du Travail shows that usage varies according to perceptions of public action in the domain of employment. At the beginning of the period, the concept of labour was dominant, but it practically vanished in the 1970s when the concept of employment policies was coined and eventually achieved undisputed currency in the late 1970s. Over the period particularly analysed (1946 to 1988), the uncertain borders between what was named “work/labour” and what was named “employment” never completely disappeared among practitionners as well as social scientists (with divergences between academic fields). The considerable variation in nominations (which also echoes changes in denomination in ministerial departments and services) is even more fruitful to study in that, even beyond the corpus of the revue’s articles, it illustrates how different conceptions of public action regarding employment and work/labour have evolved during the period stretching from the end of World War II to the early 1990s: at that date, employment policies were to be reoriented again when the decreasing of employers’ social contributions became one of the main policy instruments.
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L’assistance sociale est un domaine de la protection sociale qui ne donne pas lieu frequemment a des analyses. Cela tient certainement au caractere relativement mineur en termes financiers, voire, dans certains pays, marginal, de ce... more
L’assistance sociale est un domaine de la protection sociale qui ne donne pas lieu frequemment a des analyses. Cela tient certainement au caractere relativement mineur en termes financiers, voire, dans certains pays, marginal, de ce secteur. Il est paradoxal, par contraste, que les analyses sociologiques et de science politique se soient tellement occupees de ce que les dirigeants politiques ont appele « l’activation » de cette assistance. Ce fut pour des raisons politiques car ces dirigeants purent orchestrer assez facilement des controverses sur l’assistance aux pauvres. On a meme parle « d’activer les pauvres », alors qu’en general ce sont les choses qu’on active. Toujours est-il que cette reforme a monopolise l’interet : elle portait, du point de vue des objectifs, des buts grandioses, comme l’eradication de la pauvrete des enfants chez Tony Blair. Ces buts sont bien oublies aujourd’hui ; il est essentiel de retracer historiquement comment la vague des reformes s’est propagee dans tous les pays riches, dont les Etats-Unis et la France ont ete des pionniers a la fin des annees 1980, avec des orientations pratiques opposees. En definitive, activation ou pas, les systemes d’assistance sociale ont, malheureusement, garde leur trait essentiel : ils ne remplissent pas leur objectif principal, a savoir sortir les personnes de la pauvrete, meme si, en tant qu’intervention de dernier ressort, ils ont une utilite incontestable pour reduire cette pauvrete.
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Comparer les politiques familiales des différents pays européens pose des problèmes de méthode, de repérage et de définition. Ainsi, seule une minorité de pays met en oeuvre expressément des politiques familiales. Néanmoins, ailleurs, la... more
Comparer les politiques familiales des différents pays européens pose des problèmes de méthode, de repérage et de définition. Ainsi, seule une minorité de pays met en oeuvre expressément des politiques familiales. Néanmoins, ailleurs, la vie quotidienne des familles et leurs ressources sont influencées fortement par l'intervention publique. Il faut aussi distinguer politique familiale et politique de population, et noter que beaucoup de pays européens ne poursuivent pas d'objectifs natalistes. D'autres pays ont des politiques publiques à dimension familiale articulant, dans des proportions variables, redistribution verticale et horizontale et, parfois, l'incitation à des comportements (choix familial, choix de fécondité). Ces politiques publiques sont étroitement encastrées dans des fonctionnements sociaux et des traditions politiques et culturelles très contrastés. Leur convergence spontanée est donc exclue.
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International audienceWhile formal EU law acknowledges the equality of the 24 languages of the Member States, practice has sanctioned the blatant hegemony of the English language over the years, and the United Kingdom has now decided to... more
International audienceWhile formal EU law acknowledges the equality of the 24 languages of the Member States, practice has sanctioned the blatant hegemony of the English language over the years, and the United Kingdom has now decided to leave the European Union. Most social scientists do not care about this situation. As members of a trans-European elite, they privilege the certainties of a standardised European English over the strict demands of science and truth that need pluri-lingualism. But there is more to pluri-lingualism than being an indispensable vector to rigorous social science. Language is also indispensable for politics and, as politics is now made in English in the European Union, non-speakers of English now face exclusion from full participation in politics. Contrary to received wisdom, this concerns the majority of European citizens. One key obstacle to the modification of language practices across the Union lies in the structural features of EU law itself, with regard to its very conception of language as a discriminating instrument
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Barbier Jean-Claude. A propos de la recherche de L.H. Choquet. In: Recherches et Prévisions, n°21, septembre 1990. Monoparentalités et évolution du droit. pp. 83-84
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While the amount of cross-national comparative research has continued to grow, especially in Europe, remarkably little attention has been devoted to epistemological and methodological questions. Papers in this book by historians,... more
While the amount of cross-national comparative research has continued to grow, especially in Europe, remarkably little attention has been devoted to epistemological and methodological questions. Papers in this book by historians, sociologists, economists and political scientists aim to contribute to this insufficiently explored research topic. Drawn from various European countries, they explain how they construct their research objects. They address the role of languages in comparative research and they all try to reach beyond the opposition between universalism and culturalist relativism or particularism. The authors draw on their extensive empirical knowledge to produce a useful instrument for researchers. Their writing will also find important echoes among practitioners of social policies, who are increasingly confronted with international situations and need models to interpret the practical differences they experience.
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This book is a tribute to Enzo Mingione and his contribution to the fields of sociology and urban studies on the occasion of his retirement.International audienceStarting from Enzo Mingione's work, this chapter illustrates the complex... more
This book is a tribute to Enzo Mingione and his contribution to the fields of sociology and urban studies on the occasion of his retirement.International audienceStarting from Enzo Mingione's work, this chapter illustrates the complex task of social science in dealing with the construction of concepts for comparing social situations cross-nationally and transnationally, in the domain of social policy and poverty, because of national traditions. It focuses on the very special role played by the European Union in this process of international comparison and circulation of concepts. Finally the complex task of the social scientist is illustrated by a case study of the use of the terms 'underclass', 'exclusion/esclusione' and 'marginalizzazione/marginalità'. In order to understand this difficult process we need to resort not only to English, but also to Italian and French. The chapter also focuses on the practice of sociology between its conceptual universalism and its radical embeddeness in an empirical practice marked by various national languages
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A propos de : Didier Demaziere, Araujo Guimaraes, Hirata, Sugita, Etre chomeur a Paris, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, une methode de comparaison internationale, Sciences Po.
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There are many examples of the damage done by the imposition of a de facto hegemony of the English language within the European Union. To a large extent, this imposition comes from a lack of linguistic policy at this level of government.... more
There are many examples of the damage done by the imposition of a de facto hegemony of the English language within the European Union. To a large extent, this imposition comes from a lack of linguistic policy at this level of government. This article considers two examples involving very distinct linguistic experiences: the first concerns ordinary citizens in the European Union who, because they mostly lack competence in English, are essentially excluded from the workings of European politics and policy, where matters are conducted in English. The resulting phenomena of exclusion point up the contrast between “elites” who speak and understand English and ordinary citizens who do not. These “elites” are not aware that by choosing to forget the question of language equality in the functioning of European politics, they are contributing to the growth of what they describe as populism. The second example, conversely, concerns researchers working in the social sciences. It might be assumed that English language skills are widespread in this field since they are included in evaluation criteria. However, this is not the case at all: functionality in the English language remains very rudimentary and limited (as it stands, nearly one in five knowledge-based professionals in the European Union has no understanding of English at all, and four out of ten do not speak it well or fluently). While in sociology, for example, the dominant use of English creates a hegemony of academic journals in American and British English, it comes at the price of lower quality research.
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ABSTRACT Ce qu'on appelle "Europe sociale" diffère de ce qui constitue les systèmes nationaux de protection sociale. Il s'agit plutôt d'une série de dispositions de coordination entre les... more
ABSTRACT Ce qu'on appelle "Europe sociale" diffère de ce qui constitue les systèmes nationaux de protection sociale. Il s'agit plutôt d'une série de dispositions de coordination entre les systèmes, qui passe à la fois par des directives et des méthodes plus souples. Par ailleurs, on oublie trop souvent que le droit des libertés économiques joue un rôle structurant, et, au demeurant croissant, dans l'évolution des protections nationales. Depuis 2005 et la nouvelle Commission présidée par J.M.D. Barroso, les innovations sociales ont été remisées à un plan secondaire. Les acteurs économiques ont fait triompher ce qu'on appelle les "réformes structurelles", pour les mettre en haut des priorités. La crise n'a pas arrangé les choses et les problèmes de la politisation croissante des questions européennes n'ont pas fini de réserver des surprises.
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only a small minority of citizens in the European Union speak English properly. This is true in most countries although exceptions exist like the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands this "exclusion" from English has... more
only a small minority of citizens in the European Union speak English properly. This is true in most countries although exceptions exist like the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands this "exclusion" from English has consequences for the exercise of politics, not only at the EU level, but also at the national level. It is possible to show that in three countries (Denmark, the Netherlands and France) there exists a coexistence of the sharing of far-right populist opinions and the absence of English skills. More research is needed to illustrate what has remained until now, a hidden situation.
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Given the normative European Employment Strategy (EES) discourse, it would be crucial to measure to what extent the flexibility of work and of employment relationships1 and the accompanying forms of security (basically of one's job,... more
Given the normative European Employment Strategy (EES) discourse, it would be crucial to measure to what extent the flexibility of work and of employment relationships1 and the accompanying forms of security (basically of one's job, income and entitlement to social ...
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Résumé Depuis plus de 10 ans, les réformes de l’activation de la protection sociale ont pris une grande ampleur dans tous les pays. Quand on en fait le bilan, on peut comprendre leurs traits communs ainsi que la grande diversité qui a... more
Résumé
Depuis plus de 10 ans, les réformes de l’activation de la protection sociale ont pris une grande ampleur dans tous les pays. Quand on en fait le bilan, on peut comprendre leurs traits communs ainsi que la grande diversité qui a persisté en Europe, et entre l’Europe et les États-Unis. Si les réformes ont eu des conséquences à la fois idéologiques et institutionnelles, si elles ont changé les stratégies politiques, l’activation de la protection sociale s’inscrit dans une logique historique. Partout, ces réformes ont été légitimées par des promesses en matière d’accès à l’emploi, d’élimination de la pauvreté et d’exclusion sociale. Mais ces promesses, on le sait maintenant, n’ont pas été tenues. Si les dépenses sociales ont été contenues, on ne connaît enfin que très mal les effets sur le vécu des personnes, qui sont très difficiles à comparer entre pays.
Abstract
Workfare and employment promotion after 20 years – more noise than light? A contribution to the still-needed assessment
For more than 10 years most countries have promoted the employment of social assistance recipients, that is activation. Any assessment reveals common characteristics as well as continuing and large diversity across Europe and between Europe and the United States. Activation of social protection is part of an historical logic even as these reforms have had both ideological and institutional consequences and have altered political strategies. Everywhere the promises that legitimated the reforms were both access to paid work and elimination of poverty and social exclusion. As we now know, these promises have not been met. While levels of spending have been contained, we know less about the effects on the lived experiences of individuals, these being so hard to compare across countries.
Depuis plus de 10 ans, les réformes de l’activation de la protection sociale ont pris une grande ampleur dans tous les pays. Quand on en fait le bilan, on peut comprendre leurs traits communs ainsi que la grande diversité qui a persisté en Europe, et entre l’Europe et les États-Unis. Si les réformes ont eu des conséquences à la fois idéologiques et institutionnelles, si elles ont changé les stratégies politiques, l’activation de la protection sociale s’inscrit dans une logique historique. Partout, ces réformes ont été légitimées par des promesses en matière d’accès à l’emploi, d’élimination de la pauvreté et d’exclusion sociale. Mais ces promesses, on le sait maintenant, n’ont pas été tenues. Si les dépenses sociales ont été contenues, on ne connaît enfin que très mal les effets sur le vécu des personnes, qui sont très difficiles à comparer entre pays.
Abstract
Workfare and employment promotion after 20 years – more noise than light? A contribution to the still-needed assessment
For more than 10 years most countries have promoted the employment of social assistance recipients, that is activation. Any assessment reveals common characteristics as well as continuing and large diversity across Europe and between Europe and the United States. Activation of social protection is part of an historical logic even as these reforms have had both ideological and institutional consequences and have altered political strategies. Everywhere the promises that legitimated the reforms were both access to paid work and elimination of poverty and social exclusion. As we now know, these promises have not been met. While levels of spending have been contained, we know less about the effects on the lived experiences of individuals, these being so hard to compare across countries.