Capturer les effets de contexte depuis le guichet. Une analyse multiniveau de la fabrique des discriminations

Abstract

Capturing the effects of context from the desk. A multilevel analysis of the discrimination process. This article examines several methodological challenges associated with the multilevel approach, starting from the choices made during a research project aimed at explaining the recurrence of discrimination in access to social housing. Based on ethnographic surveys mainly carried out at the micro and meso levels, this research adopts a dual focus on professional practices and contextual effects, in order to grasp reproduction processes at the macro level. How to differentiate the levels of analysis through ethnographic enquiry ? How can macro-level elements be extracted from data collected mainly at the micro or meso level? How to characterise the relationships between these different levels of analysis ? To answer these questions, I first propose a brief review of the literature on bureaucratic work and lay the foundations for a multi-level approach to street-level bureaucracy. I then review my main methodological choices, the trajectory of my investigation, and the techniques used to analyse the empirical material. Finally, I show, on the basis of the results of my survey, how the multilevel approach makes it possible to characterise the micro-meso-macro links in terms of coupling-decoupling and to prioritise the explanations of bureaucratic work.

How to study the stability of interstitial spaces: an analysis based on the case of the visibility of French intellectuals

“… 1. Ethnomethodologists followed individuals daily in a localized environment in order to diversify their observation of scenes of social behavior and to grasp the coherence of their assemblage from the inside. See Zimmerman, 1969 and Bourgeois, 2022. …”