Distinction sociale et conduites d？incivilité dans les espaces commerciaux ouverts au public

this article represents a theoretical analysis based on an exploratory study conducted in three french enterprises: sncf (french national railway), la poste (postal service) and galeries lafayette (a parisian department store). the aim of this article is to produce a psychosocial scope on the phenomenon of uncivil behaviour understood here as a consequence of a break of social links between employees and clients. a definition of incivility in terms of interactions between different social groups is proposed here. then, incivility is analysed as a behaviour of social distinction. we attempt to demonstrate, finally, how the differentiation of spaces of each enterprise is related to uncivil behaviours.