My research is at the intersection of the sociology of culture and the sociology of gender. My work on female authors has questioned the way women had access to literary careers and were recognized as authors in the world of French literature, in order to understand how social-based and gender-based inequalities have been operating in this creative field since the late nineteenth century. Working on female authors has led me to question literary value as a social construction, shifting the focus on intermediaries of production and promotion such as press agents and literary critics. Exploring the editorial mechanisms of the way works and female authors are covered by the media intensified my interest in the professional practices of intermediaries within cultural industries.
As a result of my participation in the IMPACT program (2009-2012), I am now working on carrying out a socio-historical investigation on the profession of artistic agent (these agents represent the interests of male and female actors, authors and directors in the film industry market in France). The goal of the research is to understand, from a socioeconomic perspective, the effects that a three-dimensional combination, which is economic (setting up the price lists of artists, negotiating their salaries and various retributions), symbolic (establishing someone’s image, fame and artistic recognition) and social (through networks), bears on the construction of professional artistic careers in this industry. The study ties up analyses of both the career-paths of artistic agents and their contribution to the film industry (what is at stake and the definition of professional territory), using archives, interviews with agents (male and female producers, actors, moviemakers, cast, lawyers, etc.) and observations made in artistic agencies.
I also work on the history of feminist movements, practices and ideas, evolving around two axes. The first portrays the stances of female authors and intellectuals in the public eye and their relation to feminist movements since the 1970s. The second is carried out with Catherine Achin and is based upon semi-structured biographical interviews. It questions, from a practical point of view, the way identification and feminist commitment are shaped among anonymous middle- and working-class women who live in areas around cities and have been socialized both at school and professionally between 1965 and 1975.
Moreover, I have developed research with Maud Simonet on the research practices of sociologists, leading to a collective publication. I dedicated part of my work to reflecting on feminist epistemology, analyzing the works of Colette Guillaumin (with the help of Eric Soriano) and Judith Butler (with the help of Geneviève Pruvost).
I am a member of the journals “Cahiers du Genre” and “Sociétés contemporaines”.
