Contenu du sommaire

Philippe Fritsch : Adult-training staff and adult-training. Analysis of the sociological relations existing between the adult training staff and the institutes which they work. In spite of the opinion generally admitted that these institutions respond to a social demand which expresses a new need, it seems that the demand comes rather from the staff itself, which is starting to develop professionalization and reflects the current values of fraction of the directing staff. The examination of this group reveals the leveling and integrating role played by the training of adults and also points out the attitudes and behavior on the part of the staff which are tied to their ambivalent relationship with school and industry. Their social origin is almost the same as those of executive, but with notable differences: they are marginal in respect to their original milieu, they have often been in a marginal position as far as education is concerned, before being in a marginal profession. Products of a social system (more particularly of an educational system which maintains social inequalities), they serve this system by the « ability » to vulgarize the language of innovation, of rationality, of mobility and participation.

Daniel Bertaux : On the analysis of social mobility tables. Social mobility, as far as it exists, can be seen as the combination of two types of mobility, namely structural and net mobility. Methods have been already presented for the separation of these components ; however, as the very definition of who is mobile depends entirely on the (non-theoretical) statistical categories used, it is shown that one should take into account the length of the movements, and their interrelations. Under these conditions, structural mobility can be isolated precisely, thus raising as an interesting by-product a number of theoretical, i.e. sociological, questions. The analysis of statistical data on social mobility in France reveals first the permanence of the so-called « social structure » as defined by the three groups « ruling classes », « middle classes », « working classes », whose composition has actually changed from one generation to the next. Between the ruling and middle classes there is a higher rate of circulation than expected in the case of « perfect mobility », while the working classes appear to be relatively isolated. With eight categories, the pattern of mobility appear to approximate the « staircase model » of mobility from one category to the adjacent ones. Immobility is prevalent ; « downward » mobility is frequent. The results strongly contradict earlier figures on social mobility in France.

Doris Bensimon : The economic integration of North African immigrants in Israel and the integration of North African Jews in France. (An attempt at a comparative study.) In the years following the decolonisation of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, the majority of Jewish population in these countries emigrated. The choice of the country of immigration, Israel or France, was determined by the degree of identification with French habits and culture in the original country. Immigration to Israel, has as a consequence the complete transformation of the socio-professional structure and does not correspond to the aspirations of the group studied, toward upward social mobility : most of these immigrants, previously, artisans and merchants, have become farmers and workers. In France, the progressive abandonment of trading and craftsmanship leads to professions demanding good technical and intellectual training. The integration of Maghrebin Jews is more successful in France than in Israel.

Claude Dubar : The method of Marcel Mauss.