Revista de Estudios Sociales

rev. estud. soc. | eISSN 1900-5180 | ISSN 0123-885X

Work, Capabilities and Biographical Pathways: The Path to Critical Pragmatism. An Interview with Bénédicte Zimmermann

No. 80 (2022-04-01)
  • Rodolfo Martinic
https://doi.org/10.7440/res80.2022.07

Abstract

With what sociological tools can we analyze the currently prevailing notion of freedom in public labor and employment policies as well as in management theories? How can we restore the place of collective responsibility at work when flexibility exalts individual responsibility? And how can we investigate these problems while remaining attentive to the way in which the people involved provide meaning to their work? These are some of the questions addressed by sociologist Bénédicte Zimmermann through an approach that places work as the object of a general sociology and makes people’s capacity to act the central focus of her research. In this interview, the sociologist takes up the conceptual framework of this approach, which offers an innovative approach to researching the contemporary world of work.

Keywords: capacity, coronavirus, employment, experience, freedom, parcours, pragmatism, work

References

Bidet, Alexandra, AnniBorzeix, ThierryPillon, GwenaeleRot y FrançoisVatin. 2006. Sociologie du travail et activité. Toulouse: Octarès.

Bourdieu, Pierre. 1982. Ce que parler veut dire: L’économie des échanges linguistiques. París: Fayard.

Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. “L’illusion biographique”. Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales 62: 69-72.

Bourdieu, Pierre y Jean-ClaudePasseron. 1970. La reproduction. Éléments d’une théorie du système d’enseignement. París: Minuit.

Castel, Robert. 2003. L’insécurité sociale: qu’est-ce qu’un être protégé?París: Seuil.

Dewey, John. [1915] 2012. Expérience et nature. París: Gallimard.

Dewey, John. [1939] 1988. “Theory of Valuation”. En The Later Works 1925-1953. Carbondale; Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press.

Friot, Bernard. 1998. Puissances du salariat: emploi et protection sociale à la française. París: La Dispute.

Sen, Amartya. 1993. “Capability and Well-Being”. En The Quality of Life, editado por MarthaNussbaum y AmartyaSen, 30-53. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Zimmermann, Bénédicte. 2020. “Capabilités et développement de l’individualité. De Dewey à Sen, la voie d’un pragmatisme critique”. Pragmata 3: 134-175.

Zimmermann, Bénédicte. 2011. Ce que travailler veut dire. Une sociologie des capacités et des parcours professionnels. París: Économica.

Zimmermann, Bénédicte. 2018. “From Critical Theory to Critical Pragmatism: Capability and the Assessment of Freedom”. Critical Sociology 44 (6): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920517691107

Zimmermann, Bénédicte. 2013. “Parcours, expérience(s) et totalisation biographique. Le cas des parcours professionnels”. En Travail, santé, éducation. Individualisation des parcours sociaux et inégalités, editado por ServetErtul, Jean-PhilippeMelchior y EricWidme, 51-61. París: L’Harmattan.

Zimmermann, Bénédicte. 2006. “Pragmatism and the Capability Approach: Challenges in Social Theory and Empirical Research”. European Journal of Social Theory 9 (4): 467-484. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431006073014

Zimmermann, Bénédicte. 2003. “Une médiation”. En Travailler aver Bourdieu, editado por PierreEncrevé y Rose-MarieLagrave, 237-245. París: Flammarion.

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.