Social movement and unionism in France: a case for revitalization?

From the mid-1990s onwards, France has been rocked by ongoing social protests. This article considers whether and how these protests provide a strategic context for the "revitalization" of labor organizations. After providing insights into the French industrial relations system, particular attention is given to three cases: the organizing of unemployed and migrant workers, the alter-globalization movement, and recently established independent trade union Solidaires, Unitaires et Démocratiques, which epitomize emerging forces and contradictions at play. The conclusion reconsiders the revitalization thesis in the light of these cases

Gratifications and seeding behavior of online adolescents

Several studies indicate that only a small minority of Web 2.0 users actively participates, while the minority do not contribute at all. This article investigates whether a similar division applies for adolescents' Internet behavior. Using Szuprowicz' (1995) typology of interactivity, we distinguish different types of user-generated content (UGC): media, narrative, and metadata UGC. Our results show a 20%–80% division between high- and low-frequency seeders. Furthermore, we utilize the uses-and-gratifications paradigm to investigate how these high- and low-frequency seeders differ in their overall gratifications obtained by WWW use. Although the gratifications' rank orders are identical for all groups, their magnitudes differ significantly. Finally, this article focuses on how these WWW gratifications can predict seeding, while controlling for socio-demographics and usage frequency