The Appeal to Entrepreneurship: Limitations Imposed from Above on a Professional Group at the Bottom of the Labor Market: Self-Employed Loggers

• Published in: Revue française de sociologie (English Edition) 2017-10, Vol.58 (4), p.1-30
• Main Author: Gros, Julien
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: VARIA
• ISSN: 2271-7641

The appeal to entrepreneurship. Limitations imposed from above on a professional group at the bottom of the labor market: Self-employed loggers This article contributes to the body of research relating to the structure of professional groups in the lowest-skilled sectors of employment. The professional status of “entrepreneur de travaux forestiers” [forestry work contractor] or ETF was created to regulate an unstable labor market consisting of a large number of self-employed loggers. In order to achieve this, limitations were imposed on them via regional committees responsible for assessing the aptitude of applicants to set up as self-employed ETFs. There were two consequences of the implementation of these limitations on this subordinate, selfemployed group. Firstly, the limitations were not within the control of the professional group itself but are imposed “from above”; and secondly, they presented entrepreneurship as an occupational skill to be demonstrated via educational qualifications. This led committees to view technical skills as secondary to educational qualifications certifying an individual’s ability to run a business. The limitations thus took the form of an appeal to entrepreneurship, which based the definition of these self-employed workers’ professional competency on the idea of an entrepreneur rather than on that of the skilled worker or “tradesman.” The article is based on qualitative analysis and quantitative handling of data (interviews and job applications) amassed from an investigation into these regional committees.