Travail social et résistance : les leçons de recherches conjointes

The question of the “resistance” of social actors to phenomena which do not suit them does not immediately lead to identifying the scientific world as an ally for these actors, as “classic” scientific productions appear to be difficult to mobilize by them, or even their own. propose, and sometimes impose on them, analysis logics which hardly correspond to their challenges. Other research dynamics that I will call joint research, which associate the actors / actresses concerned, can acculturate, on the one hand, them to the gaze constructed by scientific activity and, on the other hand, scientists to the understandings of actors / actresses. This process can allow the latter to have unprecedented intellectual tools in order to face their challenges in a new way. Such alliances, when they occur, restore individuals and groups as subjects and actors in their lives. Two examples of joint research illustrate this thesis. This article proposes to understand joint research as communicational dynamics. The co-investigating social actors participate in the construction of a common world where they learn from others as much as they learn from them and where their problem is recomposed. If there is resistance in joint research, it is resistance to the temptation of actors from all sides to sanctify certain understandings and therefore to impose them.