Nightwatchers, a New Contribution to the Regulation of Public Space ?

Jacques de Maillard (1, 2)

1 CESDIP - Centre de recherches sociologiques sur le droit et les institutions pénales
2 UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

Following an experimental phase during the 1990s, the French social mediation professions expanded considerably with the youth-employment (emplois-jeunes) scheme introduced in 1997, which recruited local social mediation agents. The extension of these new occupations was sometimes viewed as a way of renewing the regulation of public space by putting someone in charge of looking after communal spaces, thus contributing to some sort of public order without resorting exclusively to the law. Similarly, but with less focus on the issue of surveillance of public space, other scholars have pointed out that they represent a new figure among the of social work professionals, introducing work based on fluidity, mobility and support, and thus instating a new type of relationship with the population. Another observation, not necessarily contradictory, is that these new activities are contingent, and suffer from a lack of recognition as a profession. Symptomatically, Philippe Robert calls them " the neo-proletariat of security workers ". It is a fact that these activities suffer from a lack of recognition by the established professions, and workers find it difficult to make their skills visible.

Domaines: Sociologie

Jacques de Maillard. Nightwatchers, a New Contribution to the Regulation of Public Space ?. Penal Issues, 2012, 4, pp.1-4. ⟨hal-00835966⟩