The foundation of the University of Grenoble - Alpes, the UGA and the PACTE laboratory announce the creation of a new research chair dedicated to research on beneficiaries, users, recipients, nationals, public policies, and in particular social policies. The objectives are as follows:

Place the question of "publics", "nationals" or "users" at the heart of research on social policies, and in particular policies to combat exclusion.

Promote a sociology of reception, which questions the meaning of actions, behaviours and public discourse with regard to social provision. (e.g.: homeless in the face of housing provision)

To question the current transformations of social policies and the role and place assigned to "users". (e. g. "Housing First", Disability Policies)

Contribute to current debates in the scientific field on the participation of people in the definition and evaluation of social policies. (GIS Participation; Collaborative space on the crossing of knowledge; etc.)

A "young research" chair

The "PUBLICS Chair of Social Policies" is therefore part of a dynamic of support and promotion of young research within the Grenoble site. The Chair was thus initiated by 3 young researchers, doctoral students at the end of their thesis, all from the PACTE laboratory, and members of the Observatoire des non-recours aux droits et services (Odenore). They are supported in their approach by two scientific referees who are also members of the PACTE laboratory.

A Chair in Human and Social Sciences

The Chair is the first FUGA Chair anchored in the field of human and social sciences, mainly political science and sociology. Open to all areas covered by the SHS, it aims to contribute to the influence of work favouring entry by recipients or nationals, actual or potential, of social policies

The ambition of a societal impact of research work

The Chair's ambition is to develop and conduct research that has a direct and concrete impact on social life and on the territories. This objective will be pursued in particular through reflection on the participation of the various social policy actors (decision-makers, professionals, recipients, etc.) in the research process, but also through innovative methods of valorisation.

One Chair, two programs

First, the PUBLICS Chair in Social Policy is built around two structuring axes:

The "Housing First" programme - This programme will be based on qualitative research carried out in different territories (initially in the Grenoble and Lyon metropolitan areas), and based in particular on a cohort monitoring methodology. Its aim is to shed light, through research, on the concrete implementation of the "housing first" approach in the territories concerned, based on its reception by the persons concerned. The work will make it possible to question different dimensions of this approach, described by its promoters as "a structural reform of housing policy in France".

The "Public Participation" programme - This programme will aim both to experiment and analyse different forms and modalities of public participation at three levels: at the level of public policies, at the level of health and social action institutions and services, and finally at the level of academic research concerning them. The Chair thus intends to contribute to the growing debates on these issues, building on existing partnership dynamics, particularly in Lyon and Grenoble. In a context of strong institutional injunction to the direct participation of "concerned persons", it seems essential to provide a critical look to highlight the springs of this movement, its limits, and its scientific and democratic challenges.