Anni Borzeix

Researching spatial practices through Commentated Walks: “on the move” and “walking with”

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how the combination of a qualitative shadowing method called “Commentated Walk” and an ethnographic approach, can be used to analyze the spatial dimension of practices, when space is considered as a co-construction and as an active dimension of individual and collective practices. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is ethnographic and the empirical field work concerns the coordination in ephemeral organizations intended to manage emergent phenomena: the social “problems” often named “urban incivilities,” which occur in public and semi-public spaces in some suburban areas in France and are recurrent. Findings – In these organizations, space appears to be part of individual and collective practices, and a key resource for coordination. Shared “spaces of action” between inhabitants and local institutions contribute to coordination. As a method of data collection, Commentated Walks offer relevant insight into how actors “deal with space” in their day-t...

DIRECT WORKERS EXPRESSION IN FRANCE A VOICE IN MANAGEMENT

Since the left came to power in 1981, French labour legislation has been redrafted. The Auroux Laws revised two‐thirds of the Labour Code and so broadly extended the rights of workers and their representatives within companies. The right of direct expression has had effects that vary as a function of situations within each work environment. Variables include: the economic branch or sector, the level and nature of employee qualifications, the size and legal status of the firm, the history of production units and their personnel. The potential in terms of managerial practices and the problems of “direct management” are discussed in the light of how the formation of direct expression groups has affected the ways in which operations are run within companies and how this innovation satisfies the contradictory interests from which it has sprung.