Abstract (EN)

This article seeks to inquire into socialization as a form of work, based on the practices of family childcare professionals. Subaltern and lowly qualified, childcare professionals, who work with young infants, are now required to accompany the “emotional”, “educational” and “motor” development of those in their charge. But, outside of these prescriptive requirements, the task of socializing young children remains largely unexplored. However, this task is at the heart of childcare professionals’ vocation. It is a central concern not only for professional caregivers but also for parents and children. Moreover, this socialising dimension of their work leads childcare professionals to understand and describe their own practices in terms of normative discourses. Therefore, this aspect of their work is of interest because it encompasses diverse but normatively oriented modes of action. These normative discourses help professional caregivers approach a variety of moral questions linked to their work and shapes their conception of working with children. This article shows how childcare professionals obscure certain aspects of socializing children whilst emphasizing others. More generally, this article will address how this socialising dimension of their work is unequally emphasized by different professional caregivers and will seek to identify several contrasting strategies of intervening in the socialization of a young child. Lastly, this article will seek to analyze how differentiated practices may affect the position of childcare professionals within the lower classes.