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French to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
French term or phrase:travail (social/politique) de représentation
"Les professions les plus utilisées pour incarner les groupes construits par les enquêtés étaient celles qui avaient été le produit d’un **travail social de représentation** très important (médecin, PDG, métallurgiste par exemple)."
"L’expérience menée en 1982 servira de base comparative, notamment en ce qui concerne la permanence (ou non) de la diffusion des PCS dans la société et les évolutions des métiers faisant l’objet d’un **travail politique de représentation** plus prononcée."
Hope this is not (another) stupid question...
From the same text as before about various systems for classifying occupations and socio-economic categories. Here it is talking about an experiment where people are asked to devise their own socio-occupational categories and then choose the most representative occupation out of the group that they have constucted.
Explanation: I freely admit I just made this up, but if as the rest of your text suggests the issue is what forces lay behind the creation of the representative profession, this is what I would instinctively put.
I really didn't know who to give points to as ALL the answers were helpful. In the end I chose this one on the grounds that it was first and had most agrees. But a big thank to everyone else as well! 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
I think I'm beginning to see it a little more clearly now. However, I'll leave the question open for a while longer to give me more time to make a final decision. Just wanted to say thanks to all in the meantime though.
Hi again BD. This is not my specialist field so I'm ready to bow to better knowledge, but in my world "profile-raising" conjures up "valorisation" rather than "mental images". Hope that clarifies my thinking whether right or wrong.
Héloïse Ki (X)
United Kingdom
ASKER
17:43 Aug 22, 2008
Sorry, I think I have just understood your question... Were you asking what I meant by 'representative' in my explanation?? Okay, the respondents were provided with the profiles of a various fictitious individuals with details about their jobs. They were asked to put the profiles into groups (using whatever criteria they saw fit), and then, for each group, to select the occupation that was most representative of that group. The idea of the experiment is to gauge lay perceptions of classes/social categories and see if they match the ones conceived by statisticians. The purpose of selecting the 'most representative occupation' is slightly obscure at this stage, but will no doubt become clear...
I hope that is the answer you were looking for!
Héloïse Ki (X)
United Kingdom
ASKER
17:21 Aug 22, 2008
Sorry if I'm not being very helpful, but this is a 28,000-word text and it's quite difficult picking my way through it to find the relevant bits! Plus it's full of typos etc. which REALLY don't help... So it's kind of doing my head in at the moment... Anyway, it repeatedly refers to how people/experts 'represent' (perceive?) the 'social space' - e.g. (another quote):
"Ce type d’approche justifie des travaux scientifiques qui cherchent à la fois à mettre au jour des logiques différentes de **représentation** de l’espace social en les rapportant aux caractéristiques sociales des individus qui les portent pour en montrer l’hétérogénéité et à envisager les formes d’adéquation entre une **représentation** 'statistique' formulée par des experts et des scientifiques et des **représentations** profanes."
It was really the 'travail' bit that had me most confused...
Again, I can only apologise if I am being unclear, equally, not grasping the obvious... It's been a very long week with little sleep! Okay, enough excuses...
Maybe what is missing are the categories in question. Perhaps they are concerned to find the most representative of a C2 occupation or an A1 profession? Though since it says that the group in question determines the categories, it won't be these standard socio-political categories, which anyway may only apply to the class-conscious UK, for all I know.
I also agree with your understanding of the mental images of these jobs, but my question remains I think. One can't really ask both what is conjured up by the idea of a politician, for instance, and then ask, which is the most representative occupation, without again asking, representative of what?
"Représentative translated as "high profile"? Moi?
17:04 Aug 22, 2008
I think that "répresentation" in the phrase that's the subject of this question is about mental images, of those jobs, held by the public in general and the respondents in particular. Choosing the most representative occupation in the group is more about people's images of the various occupations than about the occupations themselves.
To throw another spoke into the wheel: in your additional quote, it looks like "politique" is policy while "acteurs politiques" could be about policy, or politics, or both. The blame seems to rest squarely with the "statisticiens", so perhaps that is a clue?
Héloïse Ki (X)
United Kingdom
ASKER
16:45 Aug 22, 2008
Perhaps I'm being thick too, but that's kind of part of my question... Here is another quote: "L’intérêt de ce travail a été de mettre en lumière la résonance entre, d’un côté, la mobilisation de libellés et de « professions typiques » pour définir et découper l’espace social et, de l’autre, le **travail politique de représentation** de cet espace conçu par des statisticiens et médiatisés par un ensemble d’acteurs politiques, syndicaux, scientifiques, médiatiques, administratifs."
Perhaps I am being thick here, but 'representative' of what? Or is this, as in German, a case as BD Finch has it, where 'représentative' just does not translate as 'representative', but instead as 'high-profile'? Apologies if my blood sugar is too low!
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
5 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +4
politically/socially-driven representation
Explanation: I freely admit I just made this up, but if as the rest of your text suggests the issue is what forces lay behind the creation of the representative profession, this is what I would instinctively put.
David BUICK Local time: 16:39 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 15
Grading comment
I really didn't know who to give points to as ALL the answers were helpful. In the end I chose this one on the grounds that it was first and had most agrees. But a big thank to everyone else as well!
peer agreement (net): +4