Harassment at work in France and Italy First hypothesis for an international comparison

According to the European working conditions survey (EWCS), since a question is asked about harassment at work, much more workers are complaining in France than in Italy. Objective differences in violence are not sufficient to explain the large gap in harassment complaints between France and Italy. One has to consider the perception and social regulation of violence, difficulties and conflicts at work. This article is pursuing two goals at the same time: some theoretical ones (to move beyond cultural comparisons, to highlight the role of social institutions and regulations in the perception of harassment and to show that harassment is socially constructed in different ways in both countries) and empirical ones (to better describe and explain the harassment phenomenon in France and Italy).