Promoting the harmless. Union representation and social conflict in the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis

What are the consequences for trade unions of their reorganization on the metropolitan scale? Based on a survey carried out in the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area shortly after its creation, this article provides an answer to this question by examining the changes taking place in trade union representation. The analysis of these changes suggests that perceptions of militancy and its benefits are very uneven across profiles, tending to promote the happiness of “harmless” individuals, i.e., profiles where social conflict is absent from their militant trajectory and identity.