À la santé de qui ?

Une ethnographie des discours professionnels sur le risque orphelin lié à l’alcool et à la grossesse.

This article analyses professional discourse on the associated risk of alcohol consumption and pregnancy. If health and prevention actors define this risk as a fetal risk, it however does not have a clinical existence, as nearly no caregiver has seen a mother at risk or a child victim of alcohol in utero. Looking at this paradox, we suggest defining this risk as an orphan risk. In the first part of this article, using Dorothy E. Smith’s sociology, we will [...]

Les carrefours migratoires mondiaux.

La mer Noire, de la concentration de migrations ethniques à la dispersion de transmigrations cosmopolites.

For many international migrants coming from West and Central Asia and heading for Western Europe, the Black Sea is a reference space. This paper specifically discusses two groups : the Balotchis from Afghanistan and Iranians, and Georgians forcing Caucasian and Balkanian women into prostitution and involved in drug trafficking. This work compares their strategies and spatial learnings : the use of a typical broken English, the building of circulatory roads and the invention of economic strategies linked to “poor [...]

Les dissidences récréatives en nature : entre jeu et transgression.

Exploration liminologique.

This paper is based on the study of leisure and tourism practices in natural spaces and interstices. From this starting point, it examines how dissidences, which fluctuate between games and transgressions, contribute to the ambivalence of the status of recreational activities in contemporary societies. In order to do so, it uses observations collected from a series of works from various domains and put into perspective thanks to the reviews of existing writings in social sciences and the documents which [...]

Traverser l’espace.

This work is about the “traverser” as a scientific notion. It is understood as the stacking of rhythms and spatial figures. Building a relation between space of departure and arrival through a reference space is a social challenge that mobilizes all spatial skills. This paper outlines the languages used to define the “traverser” : spatial architectures and spatialities are decoded with different figures and spatial maps ; visibility rules are developed through the study of tangible and intangible materials. [...]

La linguistique dans la mondialisation, de la perte de diversité aux politiques linguistiques.

Nicholas Evans. 2012. Ces mots qui meurent. Les langues menacées et ce qu’elles ont à nous dire. Paris : La Découverte.

Science sociale rare et à fort ticket d’entrée, la linguistique dans son interaction avec les autres sciences sociales apporte beaucoup à la connaissance des sociétés — tant d’un point de vue théorique que pour la construction raisonnée de politiques linguistiques. Nicholas Evans, dans un livre riche et innovant, montre les grands pôles de choix linguistique, éloge ou désaveu de la diversité, mais aussi la réalité d’une perte sévère de cette diversité linguistique : la mort de nombreuses petites langues [...]

Plaidoyer pour une bibliométrie non occidentale.

Pansu, Pascal, Nicole Dubois et Jean-Léon Beauvois. 2013. Dis-moi qui te cite, et je saurai ce que tu vaux. Que mesure vraiment la bibliométrie ? Grenoble : Presses universitaires de Grenoble.

Assessing science means assessing scientists. Some scientists systematically refuse all types of assessments, in the name of academic freedom. Others, such as the authors of this book, approve of assessment, though not in its present form. They describe what they think is the best assessment process, which would plainly recognize different cultural backgrounds — western and non-western ones would be considered equivalent. [...]

Les traversées du quotidien.

Supposedly fluid, continuous and transparent, contemporary societies are in fact societies which divide, separate and cross boundaries. Micro-geography focuses on the numerous transformations that are part of daily life and have generated systems and sophisticated infrastructures to facilitate flows, while controlling and channelling them. Keys, tickets, access or credit cards, badges, remote controls, ID cards, etc. are essential today to get around. Inequality in the allocation of such “magic tools” make the ability to cross boundaries a discriminating resource [...]

Traverser.

This paper justifies “le traverser” as a scientific notion ; it argues that it can be defined as the social validation of spatial practices organized a posteriori. ”Le traveser” is a process of social “substantivation” that treats the distance traveled as a spatial unit. With examples from various scales and cultural materials, such as promotional films, webdocumentaries, cartoon or experimental movies, the purpose of this work is to define more precisely the linguistic and spatial uses of what can [...]

Entre climat et stratégie, une relation problématique.

La notion de stratégie s’est imposée dans la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique. Scientifiques, ONG, organisations internationales, institutions publiques et experts n’hésitent pas à placer leurs recommandations et leurs plans d’action sous cette enseigne. Le présent article interroge la relation entre climat et stratégie, telle qu’elle se révèle à l’examen des grandes politiques publiques relatives au changement climatique et des différentes réactions qu’elles suscitent. Il expose les principaux attributs d’une réflexion stratégique digne de ce nom, leurs tenants et [...]

La ville marchande : une approche ethnologique.

In this paper, the author questions the city in its market environment from an ethnological point of view. Starting from fieldworks conducted in urban areas, more specifically in Paris, this article aims at presenting an ethnological perspective of market exchange situations. It examines different urban contexts that are characterized by the size of their market, questions the formation of urban spaces and actors, and finally analyzes the place and role of trade in the city. [...]