Samia Saadani, Nicolas Balas and Florence Rodhain
The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the paradoxes of mainstream French anti- racism regarding Islamophobia. The authors focus on the driving role played by French…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the paradoxes of mainstream French anti- racism regarding Islamophobia. The authors focus on the driving role played by French republican values in the recurring inability of anti-racist activism, and anti-islamophobia in particular, to act upon the structural character of racism in France.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors’ analysis draws on a longitudinal and qualitative investigation of the “Sud-Education 93” controversy (SE93). The authors use the analytical framework provided by controversy studies in order to focus on the aftermath, in the public sphere, of the organisation by a French labour union of a minority-only workshop designed to provide teachers with a space for expression and purposeful guidance, in order to face Islamophobia and racism issues within French public schools. The authors collected an exhaustive set of data about the comments, criticisms and debates that emerged in the public sphere as a reaction to the workshop. The authors drew on situational analysis methodology, providing controversy analysts with several power-mapping techniques, in order to conduct a discursive analysis of the statements and claims made by the protagonists of the controversy.
Findings
First, the authors’ insights point out that French Islamophobia relies on the myth of the universal republican citizen that acts as a context-specific form of colour-blindism. Second, the authors shed light on the discursive and relational mechanisms that characterise the denial of Islamophobia undertaken by political actors who use “reverse racism” arguments as a form of backlash, i.e. a strategy of “fragility” (DiAngelo, 2018) consisting in maintaining artificially a never-ending controversy over Islamophobia. Finally, the authors discuss the role played by these strategies of fragility in the recurring rejection of anti-islamophobia activism in France and the limitations and prospects they embody for future forms of anti-racist strategies.
Research limitations/implications
The Latourian perspective adopted in the paper focuses on the implications of the controversy over Islamophobia within the public sphere. The authors’ fieldwork suggests, however, that the internal dynamics of minority-only organisations embodies sites and répertoires of micro-contestation capable of bypassing on the short run, and perhaps overthrowing, the power of French hypocrisy about anti-racism and the backlash processes the authors observed in the public sphere.
Originality/value
The authors’ contribution lies in the in-depth analysis of “reverse racism” rhetorics as a strategy of fragility and its implications in terms of colour-blindism and backlash.
Details
Keywords
Aurélie Girard, Bernard Fallery and Florence Rodhain
The development of social media provides new opportunities for recruitment and raises various questions. This chapter aims to clarify areas of agreement and disagreement regarding…
Abstract
Purpose
The development of social media provides new opportunities for recruitment and raises various questions. This chapter aims to clarify areas of agreement and disagreement regarding the integration of social media in recruitment strategies.
Methodology/approach
A Delphi study was conducted among a panel of 34 French experts composed of 26 practitioners and 8 academics.
Findings
Three quantitative results and five qualitative results are presented. Social media appear as an opportunity to raise the strategic role of HR professionals through employer branding strategy, internal skills development, and a greater involvement of managers within the sourcing process.
Practical implications
This study points out several barriers and limits regarding the integration of social media in recruitment strategies and encourage HR professionals to take up the challenge. Multiple recommendations are addressed to HR professionals.
Originality/value of chapter
This chapter is based on an innovative application of the Delphi method. Moreover, it offers a more comprehensive and critical look on the integration of social media in recruitment strategies.
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Keywords
Angélique Rodhain and Philippe Aurier
– The purpose of this paper is to study the child–brand relationship dynamic in interaction with the relationships children develop with their family, peers and teacher.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the child–brand relationship dynamic in interaction with the relationships children develop with their family, peers and teacher.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, six classes in French primary schools are observed for six months. Among the 112 children observed, aged 10-11 years, 24 of them are interviewed twice individually and 24 others are interviewed in focus groups.
Findings
A lack of coherence between parents, peers and the teacher, as well as with the child’s own desires, affects the child–brand relationship and reduces the child’s self-esteem. Based on this, this study proposes a four-case typology of child–brand relationship dynamics with two criteria: the child’s attitude toward the brand relationship (favorable and unfavorable) and the consistency of attitudes in his/her socialization spheres (peers, parents and teacher) relative to this relationship. Then, the most frequent trajectories children follow across these brand relationship cases are identified.
Research limitations/implications
This study applies to branded clothes.
Practical implications
From a marketer’s perspective, this study reveals that there are different qualities in child–brand relationships. The strongest one appears when the child feels free from outside pressure and when peers, parents and the teacher create a virtuous circle for brands (or at least do not contradict the child’s desires for brands).
Social implications
For public policymakers, it can be useful to be aware that when peers, parents and teachers’ opinions about brands differ, this affects the child’s self-esteem.
Originality/value
The study offers a dynamic approach to child–brand relationships.
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Cleopatra Veloutsou and Francisco Guzman
By outlining the evolution of brand management research over the past 25 years, as reported in the Journal of Product and Brand Management (JPBM), this paper aims to analyze the…
Abstract
Purpose
By outlining the evolution of brand management research over the past 25 years, as reported in the Journal of Product and Brand Management (JPBM), this paper aims to analyze the changes in the way branding has been approached in research, highlight the current challenges the discipline faces and suggest future research avenues that will hopefully further enrich brand management knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper includes internal historical literature review and commentary.
Findings
After a thorough analysis of the journal’s content, the contribution that the JPBM has made in the development of brand management knowledge over the past 25 years is highlighted. Eight major shifts in brand management research and thought, and three overarching difficulties and challenges, are identified.
Research limitations/implications
By solely focusing on the contributions published in the journal, by no means this review is exhaustive and includes all the contributions to the discipline. Its contribution is limited to the analysis of the work, and the evolution of brand management thinking, recorded in the JPBM.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the evolution of brand management thought and presents imperatives and challenges to guide future research in brand management.