FROM A GOVERNMENT APPARATUS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF AN APPARATUS: THE ROLE OF HRM PRACTICES IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE NATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY FUND FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY IN FRANCE (1946 TO THE PRESENT)

Abstract

In 1946, public authorities were responsible for health and social issues associated with the mining sector. A special social security scheme for miners was created, and its administration was entrusted to the National Social Security Fund for the Mining Industry (CANSSM). This organisation continues to exist despite the gradual disappearance of the mining industry in mainland France. Our study examines the specific nature of the evolution of the CANSSM (1946-2024) through the lens of Foucauldian governmentality, tracing the role played by management practices and the actors associated with them in reforming the system under consideration. Drawing on qualitative research, our analyses underscore the pivotal role of human resource management (HRM) practices in explaining the CANSSM’s persistence long after the end of the mining era. Treating these practices as characteristic of the prevailing modes of governmentality, we show how their transformation becomes a condition that makes possible the shift from one mode of governmentality to another. Finally, the study also highlights the changing position of the state regarding the handling of health and social questions linked to economic activity. This suggests that, if the mining sector is developed again in France, it would be useful to reconsider the institutional arrangements necessary for a system of prevention and redress of occupational risks specific to the industry.