Abstract
Given the complex administrative procedures they had to deal with, and their already precarious living and housing conditions before the pandemic, migrant populations were strongly impacted by Covid-19. Faced with the first emergencies linked to the health crisis, and to continue their aid mission, the associations working alongside migrant people redoubled their efforts. The objective of this article is to question the changes brought about by the health crisis in the associations, and to understand how employees and volunteers reinvented themselves daily in their professional practices and commitment. At the same time, our study questions the relevance of participatory research mechanisms in the humanities and social sciences to accompany actors in the field in a reflective process to strengthen their actions and organisation, and to create spaces and times for listening to these committed people who create innovative know-how. The development of a participatory survey with three teams of volunteers and/or employees attached to national associations has enabled us to shed light on various adjustments in their daily actions and their intemal organisation during the first confinement. Certain adaptations in their way of working enabled them to initiate new reflections to improve their support system and the dialogue within the teams. However, the health crisis also highlighted ruptures in their organisation and within their network of actors, illustrating in particular the relationships of domination between associations and public authorities that existed before the health crisis.