Keywords : work, health, trade unionism, voting, politics, social classes
My research falls within the fields of the sociology of work, trade unionism and political sociology. It combines historical and sociological approaches and examines contemporary changes in the world of work, trade unionism and the everyday relationship with politics.
Having spent around ten years working on occupational health issues, particularly social and trade union campaigns against workplace suffering throughout the 20the In the 21st century, I am embarking on a new research programme supported by the ANR as part of a «Young Researcher» grant (ANR-JCJC 2025–2029). This programme examines the links between the deterioration in working conditions and the decline in trade unionism over the past 30 years, and the rise of the far right in France and Brazil.
Prior to that, I have examined, through various research topics (suffering at work, changes in trade union engagement, and everyday engagement with politics), how power relations in the workplace evolve, as well as forms of collective representation, workplace engagement and politicisation, and how experiences of work may or may not become public and political issues.
I have just published a book based on my PhD thesis, entitled: Standing Tall: A Century of Struggles Against Suffering at Work (La Dispute, 2025).
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Ongoing projects
This project has been awarded funding under the ANR’s «Young Researcher» scheme (2025–2029) and the CNRS’s «Support for International Mobility» (SMI) scheme (2025–2026)
In Brazil, as in France, the last 20 years have been characterised, to varying degrees, by a sharp rise in the far right, but also by profound changes in the world of work (increasing job insecurity, «Uberisation», deteriorating working conditions, etc.) and in trade unionism (the erosion of trade union rights, a decline in membership, and the professionalisation and technicisation of trade unionism). Beyond national differences, the trade union movement has historically fuelled support for left-wing parties and played an important role in the political socialisation of entire sections of the working class. Despite renewed interest in sociology and political science in the political effects of work, these dimensions remain understudied and are often relegated to the background in research on the far right and changing relationships with politics. This project aims to shed new light on the effects of changes in trade unionism and the world of work on the dynamics of politicisation in the workplace and the rise of the far right in France and Brazil. More broadly, it seeks to examine the ways in which work contributes to the construction of relationships with politics, by studying how it shapes, reinforces and influences patterns of perception and dispositions that contribute to the (de)politicisation of certain social experiences both within and outside the workplace. To this end, it offers a comparative analysis of three sectors (transport, energy and municipal public services) in the cities of São Paulo, Brazil, and Marseille, France.
This project is funded by the ANR for a period of four years. It is coordinated by Rémy Ponge (Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Aix-Marseille University, LEST) and brings together a team of 11 researchers (sociologists and political scientists) in France and Brazil: Éric Agrikoliansky (Professor of Political Science, Paris-Dauphine), Philippe Aldrin (Professor of Political Science, Sciences Po Aix), Sophie Béroud (Professor of Political Science, University of Lyon 2), Paul Bouffartigue (Senior Researcher, CNRS), Armèle Cloteau (coordinator of action research programmes at GRDR, associate researcher at CRESPPA), Félicien Faury (Researcher, CNRS), Andréia Galvão (Professor of Political Science, UNICAMP, Brazil), Baptiste Giraud (Senior Lecturer in Political Science, Aix-Marseille University), Paula Marcelino (Professor of Sociology, USP, Brazil), Marie-Hélène Sa Vilas Boas (Senior Lecturer in Political Science, Université Côte d’Azur),
Previous projects
This research project, which brings together sociologists and political scientists, examines the experiences and practices within the CGT with a view to adapting the organisation’s structure to contemporary changes in the trade union movement. It is coordinated by Pierre Rouxel (Lecturer in Political Science, University of Rennes 2, ARENES, LISIS). He is interested in the resurgence in membership that followed the protests against the pension reform in 2023. This project is original in two respects: firstly, it examines the unionisation practices implemented by the CGT through its regional cross-sectoral structures (local and departmental unions), whereas research has hitherto tended to focus on developments at company level; and, and, on the other hand, on the motivations behind employees’ trade union involvement, rather than on the practices of trade union organisation itself.
»Coaching, mental health support, counselling services… Organisations, both private and public, are increasingly turning to these individual support measures to prevent psychosocial risks in the workplace. The growing prominence of the theme of «quality of life at work» appears to be reinforcing this trend towards the individualisation of measures to protect workers« mental health, by emphasising »well-being» rather than occupational health. ” Led by Scarlett Salman (sociologist) and Nathalie Greenan (economist), this research project, in collaboration with economists and sociologists, examines the forms and effects of the individualisation of psychosocial risk prevention in the workplace.
Project carried out as part of the Scientific Interest Group on Work-Related Cancers (GISCOP 84), supported by the EHESS, the Ligue contre le cancer, the Regional Health Agency and the PACA Regional Council, and the Ministries of Labour and Agriculture
Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data, this research analyses the ways in which changes in the labour market (rising unemployment, increased flexibility, growing job insecurity, intensification of work, etc.) affect workers’ career trajectories and their patterns of exposure to carcinogens and, more broadly, social inequalities in health.
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