GERPSA : Change and Continuity

In addition to a heavy involvement by the network's members (nearly 80 papers will be presented and discussed at the upcoming meetings), it should be stressed that the various topics with which we are going to be dealing will lead to new competencies being injected into the GERPISA. Both the London workshop and the June conference's " Immaterial activities " sessions will help us to delve further into the automobile industry's financialisation - and into the transformation issues that can affect the distribution, and at a wider level, the different uses of the automobile. We will also be pursuing previous discussions on the various ways in which the vertical relationships between car manufacturers and their suppliers have changed; the transformations of the employment relationship(s); the new geography of the automotive industry; not to mention the official theme of our conference: Reconfiguring the auto industry: Merger & Acquisition, Alliances, and Exit. Neither the network's exposure to new topics nor its integration of new members should lead to any loss in the competencies and acquired knowledge that have been developed during the first twenty years of the GERPISA's existence.

We have a great opportunity now to have a look at our network's young history. Michel Freyssenet analyses the parallel trajectories of the two international networks currently providing socio-economic research on the automotive industry Ð the GERPISA and the IMVP. The current issue of the Lettre du GERPISA traces the first decade (1981-1990) of these histories, and future issues will continue the series. This (necessarily subjective) discussion of possible forms of cooperation in the field of social science research launches a debate in which the network's members are welcome to participate. We look forward to your version of the events and/or points of view.