Olivier Vilaca

Publications

• Is it a field or is it an actor? The fieldwork method applied to a transnational corporation fighting HIV/AIDS

  O. Vilaça

  Questioning the field: research practices and method in contemporary geography, Vevey, Switzerland; 05/2008

  Social scientists usually study organizations (companies, public administrations, non governmental organizations) either as a group of individual actors interacting together within the boundaries of the organization, or as actors in themselves interacting with other organizations in a larger space. ... [more] Social scientists usually study organizations (companies, public administrations, non governmental organizations) either as a group of individual actors interacting together within the boundaries of the organization, or as actors in themselves interacting with other organizations in a larger space. In the first case, sociologists, anthropologists and psychologists favour the fieldwork method to observe social, cultural and individual schemes from inside the organization, and learn about broader social, cultural and individual dynamics and structures. In the second case, geographers, economists and political scientists observe the organization from outside, using the labwork method to analyze data and understand its spatial organization, economical strategy or political interventions. The distinction between these two approaches seems to reveal a threshold above which one will mostly envisage non-human actors governed by institutional logics (would they be financial, humanitarian or related to public services), and below which one will apprehend individuals’ complex interactions but often to understand society rather than the organization itself. A third approach, far less often used, consists in studying the organization as an actor but from inside it, using the fieldwork method. Breaking the above-mentioned threshold, this approach assumes that decisions made by organizations are not automatically dictated by institutional logics but should be understood instead as a complex mix where individual beliefs and models of understanding also have a role to play. I used this particular framework to understand why and how a transnational corporation operating in the building materials sector developped HIV/AIDS policies and programs at the global level. This allowed me to consider the image and cost-effectiveness rationale, that usually come imediately in mind, as only two possible among others. The interviews conducted with employees who participated in the decision process show that the ethical, moral and political dimensions were also, if not more, important. One of the main outcomes of this approach is to introduce the individual perspective in the global scale which is often depicted as a non-human one. From a methodological perspective, this experience raises an interesting question to geographers who often see the field as a space where actors interact. In this specific case, was this company a field or an actor? And can it be both?

• La planète transactionnelle

  O. Vilaça

  03/2008: pages 203-223;

  ISBN: 978-2-7246-1041-3

• Ce que les épidémies nous disent sur la mondialisation

  O. Vilaça

  Les Cafés Géo. 01/2008;

  http://www.cafe-geo.net/article.php3?id_article=1161

• La planète épidémiologique

  O. Vilaça

  11/2007: pages 169-182;

  ISBN: 978-2-09-160394-0

• Le territoire des entreprises

  O. Vilaça

  11/2007: pages 155-166;

  ISBN: 978-2-09-160394-0

• L'entreprise et son rapport au territoire: un enjeu de développement durable (le programme de lutte contre le Sida de lafarge)

  O. Vilaça

  04/2006: pages 244-248;

  ISBN: 2-7526-0213-8

• Google Print: changement de support ou changement de paradigme?

  O. Vilaça

  EspacesTemps.net. 11/2005;

  http://www.espacestemps.net/document1684.html

• Les lignes de faille de l’Europe

  O. Vilaça

  EspacesTemps.net. 10/2005;

  http://www.espacestemps.net/document1589.html

• S. Allemand, R.E. Dagorn, O. Vilaça

  09/2005: pages 126;

  ISBN: 2-84670-115-6

• Lafarge and the battle against AIDS : Ethical involvement as a dynamic of change in industry

  O. Vilaça

  Third Pugwash Workshop on Science, Ethics and Society: Ethical Dimensions of HIV/AIDS, Ajaccio, France; 09/2005

  The presentation aims at providing a double perspective on the commitment that Lafarge, the world leading company in building materials, has taken in the fight of HIV/AIDS. On the one hand, Patrice Lucas, Lafarge Vice President Social Policies, brings an “insider” perspective by mobilizing his twent... [more] The presentation aims at providing a double perspective on the commitment that Lafarge, the world leading company in building materials, has taken in the fight of HIV/AIDS. On the one hand, Patrice Lucas, Lafarge Vice President Social Policies, brings an “insider” perspective by mobilizing his twenty years of experience in the company. He describes why and how Lafarge has decided to tackle this issue and argues that the company culture that made possible the Lafarge commitment in the fight against HIV/AIDS has in return been modified by the disease. On the other hand, Olivier Vilaça, a social science researcher who spent three years in the company, will bring a wider perspective focusing on the global context in which the company evolves. He argues that, as a global issue, HIV/AIDS can give sense to the action of global players, such as transnational companies and big NGOs, and legitimate their global presence. The pandemic can then be seen as a global public arena in which actions and interactions of global actors can be understood in a political framework.

• L'entreprise et son rapport au territoire: l'implication de Lafarge dans la lutte contre le Sida

  O. Vilaça

  Entreprises, territoires: construire ensemble un développement durable?, Cerisy, France; 06/2005

• Understanding global companies: from big to globalized and global

  O. Vilaça

  AAG Annual Meeting, Denver; 06/2005

• La question du Sida sur le lieu de travail: quel intérêt?

  O. Vilaça

  Entreprise éthique. 04/2004;

  Just like the global climatic changes, the HIV/AIDS issue concerns the societies all over the World. Thus, the companies are logically implied, so much locally (the AIDS seriously affects the human ressources management in the most affected countries) that locally (in the relation that the company m... [more] Just like the global climatic changes, the HIV/AIDS issue concerns the societies all over the World. Thus, the companies are logically implied, so much locally (the AIDS seriously affects the human ressources management in the most affected countries) that locally (in the relation that the company maintains with the other global players: NGO, international organizations). The criteria which make that companies commit themselves or not in the fight against the AIDS are multiple and vary according to the level of analysis. If the economic interest cannot miss decision-making process, this article insists on the fact that it is only one factor among others. The stake is more at the level of the corporate social responsibility which, more than a communication issue, is the sign of the emergence of global issues, to which global companies, as a body of the society, cannot avoid.

• L'atelier des anamorphoses: méthodes, techniques, exemples

  O. Vilaça

  09/2002: pages 129-146;

• Le Monde comme réseau

  P. Cristofoli, O. Vilaça

  09/2002: pages 165-188;

• La dimension politique de l'espace vietnamien

  O. Vilaça

  Histoire et anthropologie Asie. 06/2002;

• L'identité comme fondement invisible de la géographie

  O. Vilaça

  Sociologies pratiques. 12/2001;

  Pour Olivier Vilaça, la notion d'identité s'affirme comme un fondement invisible de la géographie. Le travail des géographes consiste à comprendre comment les identités individuelles se définissent dans différents types d'espaces et comment, en retour, le brassage d'identités multipl... [more] Pour Olivier Vilaça, la notion d'identité s'affirme comme un fondement invisible de la géographie. Le travail des géographes consiste à comprendre comment les identités individuelles se définissent dans différents types d'espaces et comment, en retour, le brassage d'identités multiples produit de nouveaux espaces, dont le plus important est certainement l'espace mondial. Le concept de "capital spatial" permet à l'auteur d'appréhender les stratégies identitaires des salariés sous un jour nouveau, en s'écartant du sentier étroit tracé par les seules notions de territoire et de mulitculturalisme. En bousculant ces notions, l'auteur met à jour différentes manières d'habiter un territoire et de donner vie à plusieurs identités, en se les appropriant, en les refusant, en les bricolant.

• La mondialisation est un processus géographique

  V. Baudrand, R. Dagorn, O. Vilaça

  Revue de l'IREHG. 10/2000;

• Acteurs de la mondialisation (glossary article)

  O. Vilaça

  08/1999: pages 253-254;

  ISBN: 2-865537-957-4