The construction site? A “sociologist’s dream”assures academic François Vatin. “Unlike office activities hidden behind the screen, site work is put on show”, confirms Gwenaële Rot, university professor at Sciences Po. In order to understand its singularities and what they imply for its actors, a group of researchers carried out the investigation, as close as possible to the field. In the depths of the Paris metro, in the heart of the Vosges forests or alongside public works divers, they followed the daily lives of these workers. Case studies presented in Working on construction sites (Hermann), a richly illustrated work edited by sociologist Gwenaële Rot.
It is an atypical professional universe, assure the authors, by its ephemeral nature, by the importance of learning on the job and by the part given to improvisation (“the decision is often made in action”). Its actors are fully aware of this. Some welcome this, praising a daily life of resourcefulness and constant adaptation, considered much more varied than that of the factory. “It’s not always the same thing. I wouldn’t want to work in a factory where you always put the same screw. So, I like it, I have to tinker”explains Augusto, monitor on the construction site of a liner.
They also tend to maintain a common culture – the permanence of professional traditions is among the specificities of the sites. It can take symbolic forms. The metro construction teams identify with the world of underground work embodied by the miners: “At each tunnel entrance, a cell houses a statuette representing the patron saint of miners [sainte Barbe] to remind us of the presence of danger in underground activity”indicate Gwenaële Rot and Elsa Gisquet in their investigation into the extension of line 14 of the Paris metro.
A demanding universe
Construction sites also have their rituals. In the building, Marie Ngo Nguene, doctor in sociology, discusses the place of alcohol. Its consumption is not widespread, but “cannot however be considered marginal”. The new arrival – including supervisors – must “pay for your bottle”. Drinking is then a “implied obligation”. This consumption does not only have unifying aims; it must also allow workers to cope with difficult working conditions (cold, etc.) or to be sufficiently uninhibited “to “brave” heights on scaffolding”.
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