The digitization of media has undermined much of the social authority and economic viability on which U.S. journalism relied during the 20th century. This disruption has also opened a central tension for the profession: how to reconcile the need for occupational control against growing opportunities for citizen participation. How that tension is navigated will affect the ultimate shape of the profession and its place in society. This dissertation examines how the leading nonprofit actor in journalism, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, has sought to help journalism innovate out of its professional crisis. This case study engages a series of mixed methods—including interviews, textual analysis, and secondary data analysis—to generate a holistic portrayal of how the Knight Foundation has attempted to transform itself and the journalism field in recent years, particularly through its signature Knight News Challenge innovation contest. From a sociology of professions perspective, I found that the Knight Foundation altered the rhetorical and actual boundaries of journalism jurisdiction. Knight moved away from “journalism” and toward “information” as a way of seeking the wisdom of the crowd to solve journalism’s problems. This opening up of journalism’s boundaries created crucial space in which innovators, from inside and outside journalism, could step in and bring change to the field. In particular, these changes have allowed the concept of citizen participation, which resides at the periphery of mainstream newswork, to become embraced as an ethical norm and a founding doctrine of journalism innovation. The result of these efforts has been the emergence of a new rendering of journalism—one that straddles the professional-participatory tension by attempting to “ferry the values” of professional ideals even while embracing new practices more suited to a digital environment. Ultimately, this case study matters for what it suggests about professions in turbulent times. Influential institutions can bring change to their professional fields by acting as boundary-spanning agents—stepping outside the traditional confines of their field, altering the rhetorical and structural borders of professional jurisdiction to invite external contribution and correction, and altogether creating the space and providing the capital for innovation to flourish. / text

Cette thèse cherche à comprendre comment les transformations bureaucratiques influencent l’activité professionnelle des infirmières et du personnel soignant d’expérience dans le domaine des soins aux personnes âgées en perte d’autonomie depuis les années 90 au Québec. Elle s’inscrit dans une profonde remise en question de l’État-providence, de sa régulation hiérarchique, de son rapport avec le marché privé, et particulièrement des agences privées de placement du personnel. Prenant en compte le déploiement inégal des changements imposés de façon top down et promus par des considérations économiques visant une plus grande « performance » des services publics, plus près du milieu de vie de la personne, notre démarche tient aussi compte de la dimension relationnelle propre au travail infirmier, qui s’illustre par des formes différenciées tenant compte des modèles de pratique préconisés. Notre démarche s’attarde finalement aux rapports entre l’activité professionnelle et la prise de la retraite. À travers l’exploration du nouveau rôle attendu de l’infirmière, dont les habiletés de « chef » ou de « gestion d’équipe de travail » sont sollicitées à titre d’« intervenante pivot » ou de « gestionnaire de cas », et de la place importante qu’occupe la notion de compétences relationnelles dans la prescription de nouvelles modalités des services, plus près des besoins spécifiques de la personne, les données empiriques se présentent sous la forme d’un tableau hétérogène qui montre que ce ne sont pas toutes les infirmières qui souscrivent à ce type de pratique professionnelle. Leur âge, expérience et trajectoire professionnelle, le poste occupé ou encore le milieu de pratique influenceront le rapport entre leurs activités professionnelles et le cadre bureaucratique en transformation. La base empirique de la recherche est constituée d’une collecte de données réalisée entre janvier 2003 et juillet 2006 et qui comprend 9 entrevues exploratoires, 7 entrevues semi-dirigées auprès de retraité-e-s, infirmières, infirmières auxiliaires, 17 réunions incluant majoritairement des membres de la direction d’établissements, ainsi que des syndicats, 21 observations directes avec des infirmières, infirmières auxiliaires, préposées aux bénéficiaires et auxiliaires familiales et sociales, la passation de 112 questionnaires auprès de ces différentes catégories professionnelles, et 7 entrevues semi-dirigées complémentaires, réparties dans 4 établissements différents, sur deux territoires. Quatre grands constats ressortent de notre matériel empirique. Premièrement, la dimension relationnelle au sein des activités professionnelles du personnel soignant d’expérience ainsi que sa perception en ce qui concerne les compétences et l’âge présentent des formes contrastées, voire opposées. Si certains membres du personnel soignant estiment que les interactions professionnelles se sont considérablement réduites à la suite des transformations des dernières années et que la compétence n’est pas reliée à l’âge des professionnelles, les observations directes indiquent, au contraire, un rapport étroit entre ces deux derniers éléments qui s’illustre à travers de riches relations interpersonnelles. Les données quantitatives montrent, quant à elles, qu’une écrasante majorité de répondantes estiment que les compétences associées à leurs fonctions sont reconnues par l’organisation (89,3%), probablement sous l’angle de la conformité aux descriptions de travail, et qu’elles bénéficient d’une marge d’autonomie dans leur travail (83%). Deuxièmement, des résultats s’opposent également en ce qui concerne l’influence du cadre bureaucratique sur les « capacités » ou l’« intérêt » des infirmières d’expérience à maintenir un lien à l’emploi à la date d’éligibilité à la retraite. La majorité des répondantes s’estiment « incapables » de conserver un tel lien alors qu’une minorité d’entre elles exprime un intérêt face au nouveau rôle souhaité chez l’infirmière. Quantitativement, la prise de la retraite à bas âge est toutefois marquante, surtout pour celles qui occupent une fonction et possèdent une rémunération élevée (ex. cadres). Troisièmement, des contrastes apparaissent aussi en ce qui concerne les formes que prennent les rivalités entre les infirmières d’expérience et d’autres catégories professionnelles ainsi que dans les rapports intergénérationnels. Même si les trois quarts (76,2%) des répondantes d’expérience estiment que la répartition du travail devrait être le fruit d’une discussion entre elles et les plus jeunes, et non une imposition de la direction, près de la totalité (92,6%) veulent garder leurs acquis sociaux même si elles savent que la prochaine génération de travailleuses n’aura pas les mêmes avantages. Leur rapport face aux professionnelles d’agences privées de placement est également paradoxal. Huit répondantes sur dix (78,6%) perçoivent le fait que l’établissement recourt aux agences de placement contribue à alourdir leur travail, alors qu’une partie envisage de poursuivre leur activité professionnelle après leur date d’éligibilité à la retraite, par l’intermédiaire de ces mêmes agences. Finalement, il ressort de ce portrait hétérogène que la confrontation des changements du cadre bureaucratique sur l’activité professionnelle se manifestera différemment selon la vision paradigmatique qu’aura le personnel soignant de sa pratique. Les résultats quantitatifs et qualitatifs soulignent que ce paradigme sera influencé par trois dimensions : le territoire de pratique, le type d’établissement de services et l’unité spécifique de travail. Le style de gestion (traditionnel ou intégrateur) influencera également l’impact de ces changements. L’analyse et l’interprétation de l’influence différenciée des transformations bureaucratiques sur l’activité professionnelle s’illustrent par la manifestation de rapports plus conflictuels avec les autorités administrative et professionnelle, ainsi que dans les relations interprofessionnelles. Ces conflits ont émergé lors du passage d’un cadre bureaucratique historiquement construit sur un modèle médical (cure) qui considère la personne comme un « malade chronique » et associé à un style de gestion traditionnel, voire autoritaire, surtout dans certains CHSLD, à une approche « milieu de vie » privilégiant un modèle d’accompagnement (care) favorisant des services associés aux besoins spécifiques de la personne en perte d’autonomie, à titre de « partenaire actif ». Le style de gestion intégrateur de ce dernier modèle rapproche les domaines administratif et de soins de santé, approche que nous retrouvons davantage, mais non exclusivement, dans le cadre de soins à domicile. Une des conclusions majeures de cette thèse est la possibilité d’« enrichir les qualifications de base » (Le Boterf, 2005) des professionnelles lorsque le cadre bureaucratique et le style de gestion institués tendent vers un modèle care/intégrateur, ce qui constitue une forme de « compromis social » (Oiry, 2004). La « surutilisation » des effectifs (O’Brian-Pallas et al., 2005) qui en résulte peut expliquer, en partie, l’incontournable force d’attraction vers la retraite, dès la date d’admissibilité, du personnel soignant, quitte à ce qu’il poursuive ensuite ses activités professionnelles, selon des exigences personnelles, par le biais d’agences privées de placement. Les « fissures » (Laville, 2005) de la frontière entre les services publics et ceux du marché privé ne peuvent alors que s’accentuer, surtout lorsqu’on constate que le cinquième des effectifs, soit 14, 000 infirmières de 55 ans et plus, est potentiellement admissible à la retraite dès maintenant (OIIQ, 2008a). / This thesis aims to understand how bureaucratic transformations influence professional activity of experienced nurses since the 90s in Quebec in the field of elderly care who dealing with the lost of autonomy. It falls into a deep questioning of the Welfare state, its hierarchic regulation, and its relationship with the private market, particularly the private nursing agencies. Taking into account the unequal deployment of changes implemented in a top down manner, and promoted by economic considerations for a greater “performance” of public services, closer to the living environment of the individual, our approach takes also into account the specific relational dimension of nursing work, which is illustrated by differentiated forms that reflect practice models. Our research finally focuses on the relationship between professional activity and time of retirement. While taking into account the new nursing role expectations, in which “leadership” and “management team work” abilities are in demand as a “pivot professional” or “case management”, and of the important place of the concept of relational skills in the prescription of new modalities of service, closer to the specific needs of the individual, empirical data is presented in the form of a heterogeneous picture which shows that not all nurses subscribe to this type of professional practice. Age, experience and professional career, position or the practice environment will influence the relationship between their professional activities and bureaucratic framework in transformation. The empirical basis of this research consists of a data collection conducted between January 2003 and July 2006 and includes: 9 exploratory interviews; 7 semi-structured interviews with retirees, nurses, and nursing assistants; 17 meetings attended by management and unions; 21 direct observations with nurses, nursing assistants, orderlies, and home and social aids; 112 questionnaires distributed to the aforementioned professional groups; and 7 semi-structured interviews, in 4 different organizations from two territories. Four major findings emerged from the empirical findings. First, the relational dimension in the professional activities of experienced nursing staff and their perceptions regarding skills and ages have contrasting and even opposite forms: while some believe that professional interactions have greatly reduced following the transformations of recent years and that skills are not related to the age of the professional, direct observations rather indicate a close relationship between these two elements, and which is illustrated through rich interpersonal relationship. The quantitative data shows, in turn, that an overwhelming majority of respondents believe that the skills associated with their functions are recognized by the organization (89.3%), probably in terms of compliance with the job description, and that they enjoy a degree of autonomy in their work (83%). Second, results are also opposed in regards to the influence of the bureaucratic framework under the "capacities" or "interest" of experienced nurses to maintain a link to the employment at the date of eligibility retirement: the majority of respondents consider themselves "unable" to maintain such a link while a minority express an interest in facing the new expectation. Quantitatively, taking retirement at an early age is oustanding, especially for those who hold high position and pay (ex. managers). Third, contrasts also appear regarding the forms taken by the rivalries between experienced nurses, other professional groups and in intergenerational relationships. Even if three quarters (76.2%) of respondents believe that the division of labor should be the result of a discussion between themselves and younger staff, and not an imposition of the direction, almost all (92.6%) want to keep their social benefits even if they know that the next generation of workers will not have the same benefits. Their relationship with professionals working for private nursing agencies is also paradoxical: eight in ten respondents (78.6%) perceive that using their services contributes to increase their work, while continuing professional activities at the date of eligibility for retirement is planned through these same agencies. Finally, this heterogeneous picture underlines confrontational changes in the bureaucratic framework concerning professional activity that will manifest itself differently depending on the paradigmatic vision of the nursing staff of their practice. The quantitative and qualitative results emphasize that this paradigm is influenced by three dimensions: the territory of practice, the type of service establishments and the specific unit of work. Management style (traditional or integrator) will also influence the impact of these changes. The analysis and interpretation of the differentiated influence of bureaucratic changes on professional activity are illustrated by more conflicting reports with administrative and professional authorities, as well as with inter-professional’s relationships. These conflicts have emerged during the transition from a historically bureaucratic framework built on a medical model (cure), which considers the individual as a "chronically ill", and associated with a traditional management style, even authoritarian, especially in some nursing homes, to an approach that emphasizes living environment, a model of support (care) that favors related services to the specific needs of the individual in loss of autonomy, as an "active partner". The integrator’s management style of this latter model will bring the administrative and health care closer, that we find more, but not exclusively, through home care. A major conclusion of this thesis is the ability to "enrich the basic skills" (Le Boterf, 2005) of professionals when the bureaucratic framework and management style tend to set up a care/integrator’s model, which is a form of "social compromise" (Oiry, 2004). However, the "overuse" of the workforce (O'Brien-Pallas et al., 2005) that may result can explain, partially, the inescapable pull of retirement, from the date of eligibility of nursing staff, even if they then continues then their professional activities, according to their personal requirements, through private agencies. The "cracks" (Laville, 2005) in the border between public services and private market can then only increase, especially as the fifth of the workforce, 14 000 nurses aged 55 and over, are potentially eligible to retired now (OIIQ, 2008a).

It is the aim with this paper, to research the shortcomings experienced in the appeal procedures as contained in the Engineering Profession Act ("EPA"), in order to determine whether the process should be revised or if only certain relevant sections of the EPA should be rewritten. Due to the administrative nature of certain duties of the Council as authorised by the EPA, it makes it inevitable that appeals will follow. It is therefore imperative that the procedures to appeal, must be both functional and effective. The relevant sections of the EPA as well as the appeal procedures of the Health Professions Act's will be researched, taking into account the stipulations of the Constitution and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act ("PAJA"). Relevant legal administrative principles and doctrines, court judgments, as well as the views of authors are also taken into account. Two major areas of concern in certain sections of the EPA have been identified: • The fact that the whole council has to decide on appeals, and • the fact that such hearings have to take place within a very limited time frame. Relevant court findings have made it clear that decisions made by authorities, have to comply with the requirements set out in the Constitution in coherence with PAJA. In conclusion, based on the Constitutional and the legal administrative requirements, it is found to be necessary to rewrite the relevant sections of the EPA, as well as the rules of appeal, as these do not make the grade at present. / Thesis (LL.M. (Public Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

It is the aim with this paper, to research the shortcomings experienced in the appeal procedures as contained in the Engineering Profession Act ("EPA"), in order to determine whether the process should be revised or if only certain relevant sections of the EPA should be rewritten. Due to the administrative nature of certain duties of the Council as authorised by the EPA, it makes it inevitable that appeals will follow. It is therefore imperative that the procedures to appeal, must be both functional and effective. The relevant sections of the EPA as well as the appeal procedures of the Health Professions Act's will be researched, taking into account the stipulations of the Constitution and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act ("PAJA"). Relevant legal administrative principles and doctrines, court judgments, as well as the views of authors are also taken into account. Two major areas of concern in certain sections of the EPA have been identified: • The fact that the whole council has to decide on appeals, and • the fact that such hearings have to take place within a very limited time frame. Relevant court findings have made it clear that decisions made by authorities, have to comply with the requirements set out in the Constitution in coherence with PAJA. In conclusion, based on the Constitutional and the legal administrative requirements, it is found to be necessary to rewrite the relevant sections of the EPA, as well as the rules of appeal, as these do not make the grade at present. / Thesis (LL.M. (Public Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 1996.

The thesis title is Supervision as a Form of Support in the Helping Professions. The translation of the term of supervision is an insight or inspection into a particular problem. Unfortunately, there are still facilities in which supervision is rather considered as inspection. Currently, there is an effort to prove the usefulness of supervision. To the introduction of supervision as part of good practice for workers in helping professions contributes the document issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs ?Quality Standards for Social Care Services". Especially in helping professions, this topic is an up-to-date subject and supervision is becoming an integral part of functioning of many institutions. In the theoretical section the basic terms such as stress and burnout in helping professions, supervision, its forms, goals and tools are defined. It deals with the supervision process, supervision contract and quality standards for social care services. The practical part consists of a qualitative research. The research was conducted in five organizations in České Budějovice. The information collection was carried out using interrogation techniques, semi-structured interviews with supervised workers, supervisors, and supervision contracting authorities. The objective of the thesis was to identify whether the supervised persons consider supervision to have a supportive or another function. The data were compiled into case reports and the common points compared. The research has found that supervision does provide most respondents with some kind of support. In addition to its supporting function, supervision is seen as having an educational function. The research results document views of supervised persons on supervision, which may be beneficial for contracting authorities, supervisors and the whole organizations. The results may also serve for a better orientation in the issue of supervision.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vårdnadsdomar och vårdnadsutredningar från tingsrätt och familjerätt där beslut och förslag till beslut inte är lika. Studien ämnar undersöka på vilket sätt domaren/domarna (juristen) anser sig ha ett bättre beslut i vårdnadsmålen jämfört med familjerättssekreterarens (socionomens) och hur detta kan avläsas i de domar där de två professionerna inte tycker lika. Är det rena juridiska felbedömningar som familjerättssekreteraren har gjort eller är det andra rekvisit och tolkningar som förekommer? Har en domare bättre kunskap att bedöma barns bästa än familjerättssekreteraren? Hur utmärker sig de två professionerna i det skrivna språket kring sitt egna handlingsutrymme? Studien har analyserat domar och vårdnadsutredningar med diskursanalys som metod för att belysa den professionsproblematik som studien syftar till att undersöka. Tre olika vårdnadsfall med tingsrättsdomar och vårdnadsutredningar har granskats. I ett fall finns även en hovrättsdom. De slutsatser som kommer fram i jämförelserna av empirin är att det råder en starkare självsäkerhet hos juristen i handlingsutrymmet kring att utföra sin profession, jämfört med socionomen. Det skrivna språket behandlas på olika sätt och med olika grader av självförtroende och säkerhet i påståenden, beroende på profession. / The aim of this study is to analyse the child custody enquiry with the custody judgements form the family law department and the court when the proposition for resolution and the decision is not concistent. The study aim to examine in what way the judge (lawyer) consider themselves to have a better decision in the family cases than the family law caseworker (the social worker) when the two professions do not agree. Is it the judicial intepretation done by the family law caseworker that is wrong, or is it the necessary prerequisite and other legal opinions which occours in the texts? Does the judge have better knowledge to assess the best interests of children than the family law caseworker? How do the two professions in the written language distinguish themselves about their own space of action? The study has analyzed judgments and custody enquires with discourse analysis as a method of highlighting the professional problem that the study aims to investigate. Three different custody enquires with district court cases have been examined. In one case there is also a judgement from the court of appeal. The conclusions that emerge in the comparisons of the material are that there is greater self-assurance of the lawyer in the action room in pursuit of his or her profession, in comparison with the social worker. The written language is treated in different ways and with different degrees of self-esteem and security in claims, depending on the profession.

Les membres de la classe des professions, qu'ils soient narrateurs ou personnages, occupent une place à la fois centrale et équivoque dans le texte victorien, dans sa construction, sa composition. En effet, si cette place prépondérante paraît indiquer une prise de pouvoir de ces derniers, elle s'accompagne fréquemment d'une mise en question, voire d'une mise en danger de leur statut au sein du récit. Cette position paradoxale semble être le résultat du lien quasi-systématique (mais souvent sous-jacent) entre l'apparition d'un narrateur ou d'un personnage issu des professions et la déstabilisation des notions de signification et de vérité dans l'ensemble du texte. Nous étudierons les modalités et les outils de cette déstabilisation, mais aussi ses conséquences sur le corps du texte. Pour ce faire, nous nous concentrerons sur le support de la nouvelle véhiculée par les périodiques pour son caractère propice à l'expérimentation et sa grande diffusion auprès du lectorat victorien. Par ailleurs, nous avons centré notre corpus de textes sur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins et Le Fanu car ces derniers ont participé activement à la diffusion dans la littérature des idées propres aux classes moyennes et ont abondamment illustré les mutations sociales de cette classe durant la seconde moitié du XIXème siècle. Cela s’est fait à travers leurs nouvelles notamment, qui apparaissent comme le lieu privilégié de l’expression des interrogations concernant l'instabilité de certains discours structurants de la société : loi, religion et médecine. Ainsi, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, fils d’un homme d’église et féru de théologie, Arthur Conan Doyle, lui-même médecin de formation et William Wilkie Collins, homme de lettres portant un grand intérêt à la chose scientifique (comme le suggère son long roman didactique Heart and Science paru en 1883) ont tous trois contribué à la définition des relations particulières entre les membres des professions et le reste de la société victorienne. De plus, leur participation active à la publication des périodiques les plus lus de leur époque atteste de leur contribution importante à la définition de la pensée victorienne. / Members of the middle class, particularly clergymen, doctors, and lawyers occupy a central place in Victorian literature, both as narrators and characters. However, it seems that this prominent place fosters questioning as much as empowerment. This paradoxical position seems to stem from the recurrent appearance of members of the professions in texts within which the principles of truth and meaning are undermined. Therefore, we will show how members of the professions, both as narrators and characters, put forward discursive strategies which allow them to manipulate the notion of truth and to destabilize meaning. In order to do so, we will study predominantly short stories, as this genre was favoured by Victorian writers as the locus of narrative and literary experimentation. Besides, this genre was widely read by Victorian audiences and can be seen as a privileged media for authors to express their doubts and commentaries on contemporary society. We have chosen to study the works of three authors in particular, who played a vital role in the bringing of the middle classes on the forefront of Victorian literary representation. Indeed, we will focus on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, the son of a clergyman and a man fascinated by the arcana of theology, Arthur Conan Doyle, a doctor himself, before he became a writer and William Wilkie Collins, who had a passion for science and the transformations its growing influence imposed on Victorian society. What is more, these three writers' active role in the establishment of the most popular Victorian periodicals attests to their vast contribution to the development of Victorian values.

Articulant littérature et sociologie, cette thèse étudie le processus de construction de la valeur littéraire à travers les pratiques de sélection des intermédiaires de la chaîne du livre, en l’occurrence des bibliothécaires de lecture publique en section adulte, quand ils constituent les collections ou les mettent en valeur. Elle s’appuie sur une enquête menée entre 2004 et 2010 dans le réseau des bibliothèques de la Ville de Paris à partir d’observations (séances de travail et réunions), d’entretiens approfondis avec des bibliothécaires, d’analyses quantitatives multiples menées à partir des catalogues et d’analyses textuelles. Une première partie analyse le cadre institutionnel de la lecture publique, ses professionnels et ses destinataires, en interrogeant les modèles de lecture promus et la réalité de la démocratisation culturelle. Une deuxième partie envisage les politiques d’acquisitions et les reconfigurations de la hiérarchie des genres qu’elles esquissent. Une dernière partie étudie trois dispositifs de mise en valeur qui, dans leur complémentarité, articulent réponse à la demande et politique d’offre. La thèse montre que les choix des bibliothécaires sont liés à la fois au rapport qu’ils entretiennent avec leur profession, à leur conception de la lecture publique et à leur position d’agents des politiques de la lecture et d’acteurs du champ littéraire : dans une double exigence de qualité et d’accessibilité au plus grand nombre, ils promeuvent des valeurs moyennes, devant procurer plaisir et savoir ; ce faisant, ils prennent part au processus d’auctorialisation dans ses différentes phases, de la découverte à la perpétuation. / Crossing literature and sociology, this dissertation studies the process of production of literary values through the work of books’ intermediaries, here librarians of public libraries, when they choose literary books to build collections or to point out a part of the collections. It is based on a survey conducted between 2004 and 2010 in Paris’ libraries network through observation (working sessions and meetings), interviews with librarians, quantitative analysis of parts of libraries catalog and textual analysis. The first part of the dissertation analyzes the institutional frame of public policies regarding readership development, examining the models of reading they promote and the reality of cultural democratization. The second part considers the policies of acquisition and the way they may reconfigure the scale of genres. The last part studies three promotion devices, that try to reconcile answer to demand and supply policies. The dissertation stresses the link between librarians’ choices, their relation to their profession, their conception of public reading and their position within literary field : having a double requirement for quality and accessibility, they promote middlebrow values, and books that have to provide both pleasure and knowledge. In doing so they take part to the process of “auctorialization”, pretending to discover authors and contributing to the perpetuation of their consecration.

Les commerçants de marché sont des inconnus de la sociologie. Le marché urbain a pourtant une existence multi-séculaire, et cette longue histoire a structuré les usages du groupe des commerçants de marché. Au delà de cette inscription longue dans l'histoire, le marché urbain a surtout su changer de fonction principale sans abandonner celle qui l'a fait naître. Ainsi cette thèse a-t-elle un double objectif. En premier lieu elle vise à dresser un tableau du marché et de ses acteurs, afin de comprendre comment un groupe professionnel confronté à l'instabilité de son installation et de ses contours peut malgré tout constituer un territoire et le défendre. En second lieu elle se penche sur les raisons qui font que l'institution du marché urbain se maintient dans un économie aux caractéristiques antinomiques des siennes. A cet égard la production de confiance est déterminante. Il apparaît que si le marché urbain se maintient c'est à travers la confiance qu'il génère, et dont il synthétise de façon exemplaire les différentes dimensions. / Urban market sellers have been quite unknown by sociology. However, a long history has structured through centuries their uses and their culture. Beyond this legacy, urban markets managed to change their main function, while keeping their original one.This research is seeking a double aim. First of all it intends to depict an accurate description of urban market and its sellers. Then we can find out how a group that has to deal with global unstability manages to build and rule a territory. Second, the point is to understand why such a micro-local kind of merchant deals succeeds in still standing in a world that is more and more globalizing. Trust seems to be the key to catch it. Urban markets do aggregate the various ways of trust, hence they are still standing and produce social ties.