Voting in micro-organizations: putting unions in Côte d'Ivoire in perspective

Based on a qualitative approach with supporting figures, this work reports on electoral choices in micro-social organizations in order to analyze their social logic. Based on trade union organizations in Côte d'Ivoire in general and the Renouveau des Agents des Finances Générales (RESAFIG) in particular, it shows how the symbolic affiliations of union members are the main source of electoral choices by affinity in these so-called "democratic and apolitical" environments. In reality, the tense relations at both the professional and union levels and the underlying stakes of domination between contract agents and civil servants lift the veil on the legitimacy of this electoral practice in the Ivorian unions.