Politics Within Associations of Food Production and Distribution. Ethnography of an Alternative Food System in a City in Eastern France

Alternative agri-food initiatives have the ambition to build an alternative to the market and industrialization, but these initiatives are nevertheless accused of depoliticization. Scarcely prone to subversion, allegedly they would only address the upper classes and fail to create a movement. An ethnographic survey among these initiatives in a city in eastern France, provides answers to these questions, showing a different definition of the economy re-embedded in politics and territory.

The Political and Economic Dimensions of Everyday Life: The Conflict as a Political Institution of a Landless-Cooperative in Brasil

Taking as a case study a cooperative belonging to the Landless Movement (MST) of Brazil, this article analyzes the place of conflict and the relationship between the economic and political dimensions of daily life. It presents an analysis on the way to balance the political principles and practices of cooperativism and the constraints imposed by the market economy, by trying to understand how the political experiences of the subjects participate in establishing a social order around a common political project, under permanent construction.

Fighting for What Matters: Care, Supporting People and Preserving a Form of Life in Baton Twirling Clubs

In this article, we look at twirling baton clubs characterized by a specific sociality which is part of a life form. This was threatened by the demands of sportivisation from the sport institution. The protests expressed by the clubs show the attachment to a logic of care with the aim of protecting the vulnerabilities and the singular identities of the athletes who are mostly young girls.

Theatre Associations in Working Class Neighbourhoods: between Politicisation and Public Action

For about thirty years now, in the context of urban policies, number of theater associations carry out projects in working-class neighborhoods providing active participation of their inhabitants. Based on an ethnographic survey in France and Italy, this article highlights the discursive politicisation processes within these associations. Participatory theatre provides a framework a priori conducive to generate “public spirited-political conversations”. However, these processes can be hampered by a set of public funding constraints.

The Forms of Socialization Within Associations of Local Social Services: The “Conviviality” in Question

This article questions the political potential of associations of local social services, starting from an analysis of the forms of socialization, following the meaning given to this category by Simmel, Mead, and their posterity in Goffman’s sociology. It is based on an ethnography carried out in three local associations of the Belgian Red Cross. It shows the obstacles to “conviviality” and to the emergence of politics in these associations.

Activation, Non-Take-Up, and the Sense of Entitlement: A Swiss Case Study of Disability Policy Reforms

Based on the case of the Swiss disability insurance (DI), the article questions the impact of activation on the (non-)take-up of social policies. It investigates the aim and content of activation policies (as found in official texts and discourses) and their subjective perception among recipients. Inspired by Kerr’s model and Hobson’s notion of “sense of entitlement”, analysis reveals the paradoxical outcomes of DI reforms. It underlines the importance of the subjective dimension of entitlements in the sociological understanding of non-take-up.

Institutionalized Normality and Individual Living Situations. The Non-Take-Up of Old-Age Basic Income Support in Germany

The study analyzes the non-take-up of means-tested benefits among older people in Germany using GSOEP (2010–2015). The results suggest that 6 out of 10 do not claim benefits. To explain non-take-up the study looks at differences between individual living situations and institutionalized normality. The empirical section deals with three dimensions of the living situation: coping with financial hardship, acknowledgment of previous achievements, and temporal dynamics. While coping and temporal dynamics prove to be relevant, the results regarding acknowledgment are mixed.