L’expérimentation «Territoire zéro chômeur de longue durée". Un projet entre dispositif d’insertion et projet de territoire

The persistence of mass unemployment led to the implementation of liberal-inspired employment policies centered on two objectives: reducing labor costs by lowering social security contributions; and reducing income replacement benefits to encourage the unemployed to return to work more quickly. These public policies were supplemented by a "social" component aimed at combating exclusion, based on the recognition of initiatives in social work, training, and local development that were enshrined in the Labor Code in 1998 under the heading "integration through economic activity." It was in this context that the "Zero Long-Term Unemployed Territory"project was launched, beginning with the 2016 law. This chapter reviews the history and the pillars of the project's philosophy, then presents its implementation under experimental legislation, highlighting the gaps that emerged between the project's ideal vision and its actual implementation under the first law, and presenting the results of the second law's implementation. Finally, we examine the innovations these experiments might bring to renewing localized responses to social issues.