Daniel Mercure

Daniel Mercure’s remarkable career on the cutting edge of his field has helped put Université Laval and its Faculty of Social Sciences on the map. His expertise and contributions to our understanding of economic and cultural change have been recognized and sought after nationally and internationally.

Global recognition

Author or co-author of 18 books on the sociology of labour and economic sociology, Professor Mercure has published more than 60 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. His recognized expertise has been called for in 150 lectures delivered in 20 countries. He has also had a hand in organizing seminars and conferences both in Canada and abroad.

In his career he has received research grants from public and private funders in Canada, Europe, and North Africa. He has been invited as a visiting professor many times through international chair programs like the Élie Halévy Chair at Sciences Po (Paris Institute of Political Studies) and the Jacques Leclercq Chair at the Catholic University of Leuven, as well as by such institutions and organizations as the University of Paris-Dauphine, the University of Geneva and the International Labour Office. He was a resident fellow at Harvard University and a senior resident fellow at Oxford University.

Daniel Mercure has been regularly involved in research abroad, with stays at the University of California, Santa Barbara and San Diego, the European University Institute in Florence, and the University of Seville. He was also a resident researcher at LEST Laboratory of Economics and Sociology of Work in Aix-en-Provence.

Professor Mercure has always been described as an excellent teacher. He has taught about 10 undergraduate and graduate courses and led seminars at Université Laval and abroad. He has supervised more than 45 students at the master’s and doctoral levels, of whom about 10 are now university professors in various countries.

Notable engagement

Throughout his career, Daniel Mercure has been involved in civic organizations locally, provincially, nationally, and internationally. His involvement in regional development led to him being named Ambassador of the year by the Québec City Ambassadors’ Club in 2000. and he was appointed a Knight of the Order of La Pléiade in recognition of his contribution to the international development of the French language in the social sciences. In 2016, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada’s Academy of Social Sciences, then in 2019 went for a residency hosted by the Paris Institute for Advanced Study and the University of Paris-Saclay’s Jean d’Alembert Chair with the launch of an international program of discussions and publications on society, work, and subjectivity, involving more than 30 researchers from different countries.

Professor Mercure is honorary president of the International Association of French-Language Sociologists as well as the founder and co-chair of the International Committee on the Sociology of Work. In 1998 he launched Presses de l’Université Laval and Hermann’s Contemporary Sociology collection, which has published some 100 books by leading authors from many different countries, including both Université Laval professors and emerging researchers.

He has been a member of the scientific committee of Association internationale des études québécoises and of several international journals in the field of work. He was also a member of the executive committee of Association canadienne des sociologues et anthropologues de langue française. Daniel Mercure has served on the board of directors of various cultural institutions, including Musée de la civilisation and Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.

The honorary doctorate he was awarded in 2022 by the University of Aix-Marseille attests to the wide-ranging impacts of his work, his influence, and legacy in the socioeconomics of work and organizations.