The boss' greatness[La grandeur patronale]

This thesis is at the crossroads of a sociology of elites, a sociology of employers and a sociology of socialization. It focuses on the commitments and sociability of business leaders within a localized employers' area (Amiens and its near periphery). The field survey (2011-2016) is based mainly on an ethnography of employers 'groups and biographical interviews, conducted with bosses (n=92) and employer employees (permanent employees of employers' organizations) (n=19). These data are supplemented by the use of documents (local press, specialized press, publications on social networks) and archives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI). The thesis proposes to pay attention to the trajectories of employers who engage in a localized employer space made up of multiple employer groups. This social environment is governed by a standard of "employer size". It is based on a set of attributes unequally possessed by bosses. Some resources are fixed, while others can be gained or lost. While some bosses manage to cross the barrier of employers' space, others find themselves excluded. The stakes involved in this space are multiple for these bosses, since it is a question of both showing off and making your company known, (well) interacting with other business leaders , (well) manage one's professional and personal time frames, (well) trust and instill trust or still (well) comply, adapt and / or stand out. Engaging in this space requires the adoption of rules of conduct, providing information on ways of being a boss in these groups. Business leaders therefore acquire an employer habitus, through socialization, within the employers' group. The mere crossing of the barrier is not enough to guarantee a "good" position. It is in this sense that the notion of "level" sheds light on the dynamics of internal hierarchies within a social group. This is how "careers of employer representation" sometimes emerge, which can also concern employer employees, real linchpins of this work of representation and organization of employer mobilizations, an analysis of the unusual campaign of the 2016 elections. at the CCI of Amiens-Picardie has just completed.