Jean-Michel Denis
Associate researcher Sociologist, researcher at LATTS and lecturer at Gustave Eiffel University UGEPlot B/C, 2ème étage
bd Copernic - Cité Descartes
77447 Champs-sur-Marne
Bio
Jean-Michel Denis trained as a sociologist. After completing a PhD in sociology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales under the supervision of Cornelius Castoriadis (‘The Emergence of the Phenomenon of Coordination in Social and Professional Struggles’), he joined UPEM in 1995 as a Senior Lecturer within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, where he helped establish the Department of Sociology. He was appointed Professor following the award of his HDR in 2011, supervised by Philippe Zarifian (“Collective action between individualism and autonomy: Assessments and prospects”).
His work falls within the field of the sociology of work and industrial relations, focusing on the effects of changes in work, employment and social regulation on trade unionism, the engagement (both individual and collective) of actors, and their forms of action (collective mobilisation, industrial disputes, collective bargaining, etc.).
His research has led him to focus on specific sectors (La Poste, the waste management sector, etc.), the changing nature of labour disputes, the consequences of the precariousness of work and employment on trade unionism and collective action, and the restructuring of the trade union movement (trade union representativeness, trade union discrimination, new actors, etc.).
He is currently Director of the Master’s programme in Social Sciences (specialisation) at UPEM.
Formerly Vice-President (Rank A) and then President of Section 19 (Sociology, Demography) of the National Council of Universities (CNU) from 2015 to 2019, he currently holds the following positions:
- Representative of DARES (Directorate for Research and Statistics at the Ministry of Labour) on the Scientific Council of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (IRES),
- Member of the Executive Committee of RT 18 (Industrial Relations) of the French Sociological Association, of which he was co-chair from 2013 to 2017,
- Co-representative of CR 25 (Sociology of Trade Unionism and Industrial Relations) at the International Association of French-Speaking Sociologists (AISLF).
He is also a member of the Editorial Board of Travail et Emploi and of the Canadian journal Industrial Relations.
Research topics
- Sociology of work and industrial relations
- Sociology of social movements
- Trade unionism, trade union restructuring, new trade union players
- Collective mobilisation, conflicts, new forms of action and organisation
- Organisational changes and industrial relations in companies
Teaching
- Director of the Master’s degree in Social Sciences (specialisation) at UPEM
- Coordinator of the M1 and L3 modules of the Sociology degree programme
- Teaching at other institutions: THEME Master’s programme (specialisation in ‘training for teachers of economics, social sciences and management’) M1 and M2, University of Paris 1
- Participation in trade union training courses: Institute of Social Sciences of Labour, University of Paris 1