ABSTRACT
In France, the voluntary sector movement and the Social Economy more generally have a long tradition of defending the right to work and of searching for routes into work. The voluntary sector has a long history of mobilisation for work integration, through mutual aid, with those social groups affected by long-term exclusion, thus reflecting the history of the labour market. The voluntary organisations, which have seen the number of people they serve increase and become more diverse, have been led to develop their services to take account both of their users and of their analysis of changes in the labour market. As the labour market has worsened, the number of initiatives has increased but sometimes with reduced aims: from 'working differently' to organising short-term jobs, or dividing up the hours of work. The creation of the 'work-integration service' took place in the late 1970s during a period of worsening labour markets.
