“TERRITOIRES ZÉRO CHÔMEUR DE LONGUE DURÉE” (TERRITORIES WITH ZERO LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT): A TERRITORIAL EXPERIMENT IN THE LIGHT OF ITS PROXIMITIES

Abstract

The objective of this article is to highlight, through an exploratory study, how a diversity of stakeholders coordinates in a specific territory around the experimental project “Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée”. To do so, we propose to use the theoretical framework of proximities as a movement of institutionalist inspiration. We present a qualitative case study conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation concerning one of the ten pioneer territories of the experiment, Jouques. First, we analyze the coordination facilitated by the development of proximities between an employment enterprise (EBE) and external stakeholders in the territory. Second, we show the progressive adaptation of this company’s organizational behavior through the evolution of proximities with internal stakeholders, fostering the development of its activities and, as a result, of its territorial rooting. Thus, we wish to highlight that proximities facilitate the coordination and adaptation of the employment enterprise’s organizational behavior, and reciprocally, we stress that this territorial experimentation is also a lever for creating proximities. We conclude that the adaptation of the organizational behavior of the employment enterprise leads to improved coordination with the stakeholders of the territory that it contributes to build as part of this new experimental public action.