Place et sens des réseaux chez les entrepreneurs de la consommation responsable au Québec

Many studies in social sciences have focused on socially responsible consumers (Dubuisson-Quellier, Lamine, 2004, 2003; Poncelet, 2005; Quéniart, Jacques, Jauzion, 2007a, 2007 b) but only a few have looked at entrepreneurs. Recent studies in this area have mostly been interested in the ?economization of the political and social scenes? as well as in social economic movements (Salmon, 2002; Johnson, 2003; Gendron et al., 2006). For our part, we have decided to look into Quebec entrepreneurs who offer responsible products (fair trade, organic, local products). We want to analyze the articulation between their economic mission (for profit) and their social mission (centered on the promotion of ethical values and practices, solidarity or respect for the environment). In this article, we focus on the relationships between these entrepreneurs and their competitors, particularly on the importance they bestow upon the networks they nurture in and around their enterprise. Based on the analysis of forty interviews conducted in Quebec with male and female entrepreneurs from different regions, we show that they build particular networks not commonly found in the conventional sector. We have categorized them in 4 distinct types: business networks, business and values networks, solidarity networks and « businesses-networks » ? each of them possessing its own logic.