The role of proximity within a network of local players in the emergence and management of a common cause: the case of a ‘Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée’ experiment

Abstract

Building upon the hypothesis that the “Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée” experiment can be studied through the prism of the commons, our objective is first to understand how TZC could be a common in its essence and then to analyse at the territorial level how the proximities created, maintained, or reinforced within a network of cooperating actors can facilitate – or not – the construction and management of this common over time. Crossing the analysis of the commons and that of proximities allows us to question the process of building a collective action based on cooperation between heterogeneous actors and the adoption of a system of rules and standards shared to manage a common on the territory. Based on a longitudinal case study of one of the first ten experimental areas, our work highlights, among other things, the way in which the lack of institutional proximity between the stakeholders (understood as the lack of shared values) interferes with the management of the experiment as a common.