Ivan Sainsaulieu

Sociology, Political science – CLERSE UMR 8019

In a qualitative study funded by the MESH in Lille on vaccine refusal among healthcare workers, I conducted around thirty semi-directive cluster interviews in four locations in mainland France (Besançon, Chambéry, Toulon, Paris) and two in the French West Indies (Fort au France, Pointe à Pitre). The aim was to investigate refusal, which increased as the hierarchy descended. I’m in the process of using the data for a paper to be presented at the AFSP in July, in the workshop on conservative mobilisations. At this stage, I’m struck by a number of contrasts: between men and women, metropolitan and West Indian, top and bottom of the healthcare and social hierarchy. There are also contrasts between ethical convictions and rationalism, and above all between anti-pass carers and anti-pass non carers. On the other hand, there was perhaps less differentiation between vaccinated and non-vaccinated staff. The underlying question is whether these contrasts can be explained by widening inequalities at a macro-social level or by other, more cultural variables, such as the blurring of right-left reference points or the weight of the local context (particularly in the West Indies).