The projects of the four research teams

Media, Journalism and Public Sphere

While opting for a sociodiscursive approach, scholars in the "Media, Journalism and Public Sphere" team investigate the structure of journalists'world, with an emphasis on its professional practices. For instance, the analysis deals with the appropriation of digital technologies, relationships with the fiels of politics and economics, discursive practices, gendered organizing, the construction of social problems and the receiving of media messages, while it increasingly includes international perspectives.

Social and Health Policies in Europe

Scholars in the "Social and Health Policies in Europe" team seek to contribute to an analysis of the reform processes for social protection systems in Europe. Focusing, among other themes, the tensions between universalisation and neo-liberalisation in sickness protection. They also investigate the link between health care and social care, be it policies regarding longterm care, children, disabled people, the chronically sick. Scholars also tackle the results of health policies concerning territorialisation and the redefinition of fiels of professional practice in the sector. In addition, they explore the construction of public health problems, looking into the interactions beetwen experts, the media and political actors. This line of research is highly interdisciplinary: sociologists, political scientists, demographers, economists, managers, epidermiologists, public health practitioners work altogether and in association with the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique (EHESP).

Territorial Governance and Comparative Analysis of Public Policies

Scholars in the "Territorial Governance and Comparative Analysis of Public Policies" team carry out their analysis of the recombinations of public action at the local and global level, by choosing a comparative appraoch as their investigative tool. Seeking a fruitful dialogue between political sociology and public policy analysis encourages the scholars within this team to work in coordination with other teams in the centre. Two research projetcs presently attest of this: one concerns expertise, and one focuses on local democratisation and the integration of young migrants.

Indentity and Political Mobilisation

Scholars in the "Identity and Political Mobilisation" team focus their resarch on the social and political processes involved in building collective identities. This fiels lies at the crossroads of fields of action of public actors, interest groups, political and association activists, experts and professionals. The topic is explored using a variety of themes, such as "gender", "territory" or "ethnicity", wich are analysed emprirically as tools for political categorisation and mobilisation.