Care Staff Mobilisation in the Hospital

This book offers a novel examination of the relations, actions, and practices of healthcare workers, analysed in terms of collective mobilisation. Based on successive surveys conducted over a twenty-year period in public and private hospitals, it brings a rich new conceptualisation of both social movements and care work. We've all witnessed the collective mobilisation at play in hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. In such a structured, hierarchical environment, the parallel with social movements highlights the ethical and collective dimensions of care work, as well as the bonds of solidarity and identification with the collective. Yet, healthcare workers are often caught in a dilemma between fighting against underfunding and deteriorating working conditions on the one hand, and cooperating to keep the system standing and provide the best care possible for patients on the other. The author's approach in terms of consensual and conflictual mobilisations brings a fresh theoretical and empirical contribution to the literature on social movements, medical sociology, public health, and the sociology of labour, whilst in-depth case studies bring to light the experiences of healthcare workers and enrich the narrative throughout.

Based on extensive data collected over twenty years in private and public hospitals Brings a novel understanding of the relations, actions, and practices of healthcare workers Weaves together insights from various fields, including medical sociology, sociology of labour and political science

Autorentext

Ivan Sainsaulieu is a full professor in sociology at Lille University, France. His research focuses on labour relations, particularly in hospitals, trade unionism, social movements, politization, engineers and innovation. He has authored or edited 24 books, written 25 chapters and 35 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Klappentext

This book offers a novel examination of the relations, actions, and practices of healthcare workers, analysed in terms of collective mobilisation. Based on successive surveys conducted over a twenty-year period in public and private hospitals, it brings a rich new conceptualisation of both social movements and care work. We've all witnessed the collective mobilisation at play in hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. In such a structured, hierarchical environment, the parallel with social movements highlights the ethical and collective dimensions of care work, as well as the bonds of solidarity and identification with the collective. Yet, healthcare workers are often caught in a dilemma between fighting against underfunding and deteriorating working conditions on the one hand, and cooperating to keep the system standing and provide the best care possible for patients on the other. The author's approach in terms of consensual and conflictual mobilisations brings a fresh theoretical and empirical contribution to the literature on social movements, medical sociology, public health, and the sociology of labour, whilst in-depth case studies bring to light the experiences of healthcare workers and enrich the narrative throughout.

Inhalt
Introduction.- Structural limits and consensual mobilisation.- The roots of healthcare.- Institutional trade unionism.- Alternative models of caring and hesitant practices.- Spontaneous protest.- What if the hospitals were co-managed?.