Giovanni Prete | Université Sorbonne Paris Nord / Sorbonne Paris Nord University (original) (raw)

Papers by Giovanni Prete

Institut de recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Enjeux Sociaux ( IRIS) ; Inserm, Jun 1, 2021

In France, the under-reporting and under-recognition of occupational diseases are phenomena recog... more In France, the under-reporting and under-recognition of occupational diseases are phenomena recognized by the public authorities and have been the subject of numerous scientific studies. This research is sometimes poorly identified and known by occupational health experts. This report presents a multidisciplinary review of this literature. A total of 166 publications were identified of various types (articles, books, theses, etc.). These publications are mainly in the humanities and social sciences and, to a lesser extent, in occupational medicine research and history. A significant part of these publications analyses the obstacles to the involvement of doctors in the process of recognition of victims' occupational diseases. Certain important themes seem to be little studied, for example, the recognition of psychological and biomechanical disorders, or the specific obstacles encountered by victims in the public service.

Conflict of Interest and Medicine, 2021

Industry influence over pesticide regulation has been central to the US anti-pesticide activism f... more Industry influence over pesticide regulation has been central to the US anti-pesticide activism for decades. In France, unions and NGOs denouncing the harmful effects of those substances on the health and the environment rarely brought up this issue. Recently, it gained prominence as “Conflict of interest” (COI) became a central element of their protest repertoire. This article analyze this time difference. It describes three related dynamics – the institutionalization of risk assessment, the development of investigative environmental journalism, and the professionalization of environmental health advocacy organizations – that contributed to establishing the issue of industry influence as a central element of the protest repertoire of the US and, later, French activists engaged in the fight against pesticides. For them, COI is now a central concept that includes not only interpersonal financial relations between public agents and industries, but more broadly the corporate leverage on public expertise and decision.

Presses des Mines, Dec 1, 2020

This article proposes to analyze the under-recognition of occupational diseases as a "chain of ig... more This article proposes to analyze the under-recognition of occupational diseases as a "chain of ignorance". Using the example of haemopathies linked to pesticide exposure, it describes the plurality of forms of ignorance surrounding knowledge about the links between work and health. Several social mechanisms contribute to making these links invisible, which are not only juxtaposed but also mutually reinforcing. These mechanisms concern three dimensions: the production of toxicological and epidemiological knowledge on the link between haemopathies and pesticides; the translation of this knowledge into tables of occupational diseases; and the involvement of patients in procedures for recognition as occupational diseases.

Sociétés contemporaines, 2021

For the past fifteen years, numerous social mobilizations in France have been working to denounce... more For the past fifteen years, numerous social mobilizations in France have been working to denounce the effects of pesticides on human health. These groups include agricultural worker organizations, local resident groups, and environmental associations. Based on a qualitative investigation, this article analyses the relationships between these actors and the social conditions that influence those relations. Through two case studies, one in an apple production area and one in a wine production area, we show that that the denunciation of pesticides is based on the existence of “blue-green coalitions” whose existence is fragile, and for which the question of the responsibilities of farm owners towards their farmworkers’ health and safety constitutes a point of contention. More generally, we point out that the issue of working conditions for agriculture employees tends to be marginalized in anti-pesticide mobilizations.

PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 2019

Opinions tribunals dealing with environmental issues have multiplied over the last several years ... more Opinions tribunals dealing with environmental issues have multiplied over the last several years as a consequence of the rise of international environmental law and its promotion by international networks. Drawing on an ethnographic investigation of one of those tribunals—the International Monsanto Tribunal— this article reflects on the many objectives they often pursue: strengthening political positions, publicizing environmental and health social struggles, and promoting legal theories. In our case, we show that articulating those objectives involved intense work to stage the tribunal's legitimacy. We analyze this work and how it was put to the test during and after the sessions of the tribunal. Our article broadly suggests that environmental opinion tribunals are political arenas where rights and identities are not only asserted but also negotiated and legitimized.

La Règle et le Rapporteur, Paris, Presses des Mines, 2020

The history of the French labor inspectorate is well documented. Research has shown that it illus... more The history of the French labor inspectorate is well documented. Research has shown that it illustrates the ambiguities of the policies that have governed industrial development for more than a century. In this article, we focus on the case of the Agricultural Labour Inspectorate. Based on the exploration of public and private historical archives and interviews, we review the genesis in the 1930s of an administration in charge of inspecting the application of social laws in the agricultural sector in France. We emphasize its late constitution, commensurate with the delay in the rights granted to agricultural workers. We describe the transformation of this administration into a proper labor inspectorate and its evolution until its disappearance in 2009, showing that it was influenced by the dynamics of state managerialization, but also by conflicts between professional groups and services within the administration.

Environmental Sociology, 2018

ABSTRACT Popular epidemiology refers to processes in which a group of individuals collects, produ... more ABSTRACT Popular epidemiology refers to processes in which a group of individuals collects, produces, and analyses heterogeneous data, in order to prove the negative effects of specific economic activities or infrastructures on their health and the environment. Despite the attention they receive, social movements that engage in popular epidemiology seldom come into being and, if they do, are often abandoned before they achieve their goal. This article draws on a qualitative sociological investigation carried out in a French region, where for many years, the development of industrial agriculture has led to concerns regarding the impact of pesticides on the population’s health. It describes the emergence of a protest movement and analyses the factors that encouraged this movement to accept a certain level of uncertainty regarding the toxicity of pesticides and to devote few resources to scientific activities. More generally, this article suggests that taking into account the national structuration of environmental movements and their legal contexts is crucial to understanding popular epidemiology processes and the relationship between social movements and science.

The administrative treatment of health alerts is currently undergoing a strong institutionalizati... more The administrative treatment of health alerts is currently undergoing a strong institutionalization process, marked by the appearance of dedicated agencies and by the adoption of legal texts defining and protecting the status of "whistleblowers". A little-studied consequence of this process is the multiplication of administrative agents who play the role of intermediaries between the social actors who launch these alerts and those who deal with them. Based on the analysis of the circulation of an alert questioning the effectiveness of risk reduction measures that condition the marketing authorization of pesticides, this article shows that these intermediary actors can promote the domestication of health alerts, i.e. their translation into terms that are less problematic for the public policiesand authorities in place.

Politix, 2015

Building on an analysis of a social movement that brings together French farmers who denounce the... more Building on an analysis of a social movement that brings together French farmers who denounce the impact of pesticide on their health, we consider the role of political coalitions in the emergence and development of “victims’” movements. In our case, we demonstrate that the creation of the farmers’ movement was greatly facilitated by environmental organizations, which helped the farmers to group together and gave them access to resources and frames through which to mobilize. We analyze how the political distance between farmers and environmental activists has put their coalition under stress over time and identify factors that helped the coalition to hold up. More broadly, this article illustrates the importance of analyzing this coalition work over time to understand the evolution of victims’ mobilizations.

Des journalistes qui font les victimes ? Le traitement médiatique des maladies professionnelles l... more Des journalistes qui font les victimes ? Le traitement médiatique des maladies professionnelles liées aux pesticides Jean-Noël Jouzel et Giovanni Prete Résumé Cet article porte sur l'interaction entre mouvements sociaux et médias. À partir d'une enquête qualitative sur la médiatisation des maladies professionnelles liées aux pesticides, nous montrons comment des professionnels du journalisme ont contribué à l'engagement d'agriculteurs s'estimant victimes de ces produits dans une cause politique. Cependant, à la suite des sociologues qui ont alerté sur le risque des analyses média-centriques, nous mettons en évidence le rôle de tiers-militants environnementalistes ou professionnels du droit-dans l'interaction entre médias et victimes, et soulignons que ces dernières développent des stratégies pour maîtriser leur image médiatique et affirmer une voix politique propre dans l'espace public.

Sociologie du Travail, 2015

This article analyses the effects of legal action on the mobilisation of farmworkers suffering fr... more This article analyses the effects of legal action on the mobilisation of farmworkers suffering from illnesses they link to the use of pesticides. It draws on a qualitative survey conducted with members of the Phyto-Victims Association, a protest organization comprised of sick farmworkers, their families, and the legal professionals who support them. Using this material, we retrace the paths taken by these farmworkers to obtain recognition for their status as pesticide "victims". We describe the ambiguous effects of the law on this process at both individual and collective levels. We show how the law helps farmworkers to see their illness as an injury requiring compensation and to consider themselves as "occupational victims". We also suggest that legal action prevents a full exploration of the responsibilities involved, and may trap farmworkers in a reductive face-off with pesticide producers.

Une importante litterature a mis en evidence la democratisation progressive du systeme de sante. ... more Une importante litterature a mis en evidence la democratisation progressive du systeme de sante. Cette evolution constitue un enjeu majeur pour les associations de malades et leur donne acces a des espaces d'action et des ressources nouvelles. A partir d'une enquete sur l'Association Francaise des Diabetiques, cet article montre que la capacite des associations de malade a tirer partie de cette evolution est problematique. Il decrit comment la direction nationale de cette federation d'associations encourage une transformation des modes de mobilisation a differents niveaux organisationnels et analyse les difficultes qu'elle rencontre. A partir d'une comparaison entre trois regions, l'article distingue deux configurations : une configuration de continuite des modes d'action ; une configuration de transformation des modes d'action marquee, paradoxalement, par une autonomisation croissante avec la direction nationale. En analysant des elements qui fav...

Lectures, 2013

In contrast to the voluminous literature on stock return predictability that focuses on the aggre... more In contrast to the voluminous literature on stock return predictability that focuses on the aggregate market portfolio, we analyze return predictability for a variety of components of the aggregate market, including portfolios sorted on industries, size, and book-to-market. Considering 14 economic variables from Goyal and Welch (2008) and 33 lagged industry returns from Hong, Torous, and Valkanov (2007) as predictors, we find that returns for certain component portfolios are substantially more predictable using both in-sample and out-of-sample tests. Construction, textiles, apparel, furniture, printing, automobiles, and manufacturing are among the industry sector portfolios exhibiting the greatest degree of predictability. In addition, portfolios of small-cap and high book-to-market firms typically display greater predictability. Factors such as sensitivity to macroeconomic fundamentals and risk as well as industry concentration and capitalization help to account for differences in predictability across component portfolios. Finally, we show that predictability can be exploited to improve portfolio performance for component-rotation investment strategies.

Http Www Theses Fr, 2010

A partir d’une etude des mobilisations entourant l’introduction d’organismes de quarantaine patho... more A partir d’une etude des mobilisations entourant l’introduction d’organismes de quarantaine pathogenes des plantes agricoles en France, cette these analyse la participation des acteurs et organisations scientifiques (INRA) aux traitements collectifs des problemes sanitaires et environnementaux. S’appuyant sur une demarche qualitative et un cadre theorique qui combine sociologie des organisations, Risk Studies et Science & Technology Studies, elle montre que cette participation est, hors des arenes d’expertise formalisees et des controverses publiques, largement constituee d’ « activites d’intermediation » qui ne s’inscrivent pas necessairement dans un objectif direct de production de connaissances et qui permettent de produire du lien entre les differents mondes concernes (scientifiques, administratifs et industriels). Cinq chapitres permettent d’explorer ces activites, de discuter des travaux de recherche recents en analysant differents enjeux collectifs: l’alerte sur les pathogenes, la gestion des foyers decouverts, la construction des programmes de recherche, la securisation et la normalisation des dispositifs experimentaux, la surveillance environnementale. Ils permettent egalement d’ouvrir des pistes de reflexions sur les processus de rationalisation a l’œuvre dans la gestion des problemes sanitaires et environnementaux.

Revue d'anthropologie des connaissances, 2013

« Les frontières de la mobilisation scientifique, entre recherche et administration. Démarcation ... more « Les frontières de la mobilisation scientifique, entre recherche et administration. Démarcation et alignement de la recherche finalisée face à l'introduction de pathogènes agricoles» Revue d'anthropologie des connaissances 1/2013 (Vol. 7, n° 1), pp. 45-66 Giovanni PRETE Résumé À partir du suivi des mobilisations accompagnant l'introduction de deux pathogènes agricoles de quarantaine, cet article explore l'articulation des activités de recherche et des activités administratives sur les risques collectifs hors des arènes formalisées de l'expertise. Il montre que les postures d'expertise légitimes font, au sein d'un organisme de recherche finalisée (INRA), l'objet de débat au cours même du travail scientifique, qui exerce une influence sur les orientations de recherche privilégiées. L'article met également en évidence que ces débats sont influencés par le positionnement des pouvoirs publics vis-à-vis des objets de recherche, c'est-à-dire par la manière dont l'administration constitue ces objets comme « problèmes » sanitaires. Ce faisant, l'article montre que la formalisation des relations entre monde scientifique et monde administratif n'empêche pas certaines formes d'alignement des orientations de recherche sur des objectifs de gestion publique. Mots clés : risque ; recherche scientifique ; expertise ; agriculture 1 Rappelons qu'à sa création et jusqu'en 1981, l'Inra est sous la seule tutelle du ministère de l'Agriculture.

Politix, 2015

Building on an analysis of a social movement that brings together French farmers who denounce the... more Building on an analysis of a social movement that brings together French farmers who denounce the impact of pesticide on their health, we consider the role of political coalitions in the emergence and development of “victims’” movements. In our case, we demonstrate that the creation of the farmers’ movement was greatly facilitated by environmental organizations, which helped the farmers to group together and gave them access to resources and frames through which to mobilize. We analyze how the political distance between farmers and environmental activists has put their coalition under stress over time and identify factors that helped the coalition to hold up. More broadly, this article illustrates the importance of analyzing this coalition work over time to understand the evolution of victims’ mobilizations.

Institut de recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Enjeux Sociaux ( IRIS) ; Inserm, Jun 1, 2021

In France, the under-reporting and under-recognition of occupational diseases are phenomena recog... more In France, the under-reporting and under-recognition of occupational diseases are phenomena recognized by the public authorities and have been the subject of numerous scientific studies. This research is sometimes poorly identified and known by occupational health experts. This report presents a multidisciplinary review of this literature. A total of 166 publications were identified of various types (articles, books, theses, etc.). These publications are mainly in the humanities and social sciences and, to a lesser extent, in occupational medicine research and history. A significant part of these publications analyses the obstacles to the involvement of doctors in the process of recognition of victims' occupational diseases. Certain important themes seem to be little studied, for example, the recognition of psychological and biomechanical disorders, or the specific obstacles encountered by victims in the public service.

Conflict of Interest and Medicine, 2021

Industry influence over pesticide regulation has been central to the US anti-pesticide activism f... more Industry influence over pesticide regulation has been central to the US anti-pesticide activism for decades. In France, unions and NGOs denouncing the harmful effects of those substances on the health and the environment rarely brought up this issue. Recently, it gained prominence as “Conflict of interest” (COI) became a central element of their protest repertoire. This article analyze this time difference. It describes three related dynamics – the institutionalization of risk assessment, the development of investigative environmental journalism, and the professionalization of environmental health advocacy organizations – that contributed to establishing the issue of industry influence as a central element of the protest repertoire of the US and, later, French activists engaged in the fight against pesticides. For them, COI is now a central concept that includes not only interpersonal financial relations between public agents and industries, but more broadly the corporate leverage on public expertise and decision.

Presses des Mines, Dec 1, 2020

This article proposes to analyze the under-recognition of occupational diseases as a "chain of ig... more This article proposes to analyze the under-recognition of occupational diseases as a "chain of ignorance". Using the example of haemopathies linked to pesticide exposure, it describes the plurality of forms of ignorance surrounding knowledge about the links between work and health. Several social mechanisms contribute to making these links invisible, which are not only juxtaposed but also mutually reinforcing. These mechanisms concern three dimensions: the production of toxicological and epidemiological knowledge on the link between haemopathies and pesticides; the translation of this knowledge into tables of occupational diseases; and the involvement of patients in procedures for recognition as occupational diseases.

Sociétés contemporaines, 2021

For the past fifteen years, numerous social mobilizations in France have been working to denounce... more For the past fifteen years, numerous social mobilizations in France have been working to denounce the effects of pesticides on human health. These groups include agricultural worker organizations, local resident groups, and environmental associations. Based on a qualitative investigation, this article analyses the relationships between these actors and the social conditions that influence those relations. Through two case studies, one in an apple production area and one in a wine production area, we show that that the denunciation of pesticides is based on the existence of “blue-green coalitions” whose existence is fragile, and for which the question of the responsibilities of farm owners towards their farmworkers’ health and safety constitutes a point of contention. More generally, we point out that the issue of working conditions for agriculture employees tends to be marginalized in anti-pesticide mobilizations.

PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 2019

Opinions tribunals dealing with environmental issues have multiplied over the last several years ... more Opinions tribunals dealing with environmental issues have multiplied over the last several years as a consequence of the rise of international environmental law and its promotion by international networks. Drawing on an ethnographic investigation of one of those tribunals—the International Monsanto Tribunal— this article reflects on the many objectives they often pursue: strengthening political positions, publicizing environmental and health social struggles, and promoting legal theories. In our case, we show that articulating those objectives involved intense work to stage the tribunal's legitimacy. We analyze this work and how it was put to the test during and after the sessions of the tribunal. Our article broadly suggests that environmental opinion tribunals are political arenas where rights and identities are not only asserted but also negotiated and legitimized.

La Règle et le Rapporteur, Paris, Presses des Mines, 2020

The history of the French labor inspectorate is well documented. Research has shown that it illus... more The history of the French labor inspectorate is well documented. Research has shown that it illustrates the ambiguities of the policies that have governed industrial development for more than a century. In this article, we focus on the case of the Agricultural Labour Inspectorate. Based on the exploration of public and private historical archives and interviews, we review the genesis in the 1930s of an administration in charge of inspecting the application of social laws in the agricultural sector in France. We emphasize its late constitution, commensurate with the delay in the rights granted to agricultural workers. We describe the transformation of this administration into a proper labor inspectorate and its evolution until its disappearance in 2009, showing that it was influenced by the dynamics of state managerialization, but also by conflicts between professional groups and services within the administration.

Environmental Sociology, 2018

ABSTRACT Popular epidemiology refers to processes in which a group of individuals collects, produ... more ABSTRACT Popular epidemiology refers to processes in which a group of individuals collects, produces, and analyses heterogeneous data, in order to prove the negative effects of specific economic activities or infrastructures on their health and the environment. Despite the attention they receive, social movements that engage in popular epidemiology seldom come into being and, if they do, are often abandoned before they achieve their goal. This article draws on a qualitative sociological investigation carried out in a French region, where for many years, the development of industrial agriculture has led to concerns regarding the impact of pesticides on the population’s health. It describes the emergence of a protest movement and analyses the factors that encouraged this movement to accept a certain level of uncertainty regarding the toxicity of pesticides and to devote few resources to scientific activities. More generally, this article suggests that taking into account the national structuration of environmental movements and their legal contexts is crucial to understanding popular epidemiology processes and the relationship between social movements and science.

The administrative treatment of health alerts is currently undergoing a strong institutionalizati... more The administrative treatment of health alerts is currently undergoing a strong institutionalization process, marked by the appearance of dedicated agencies and by the adoption of legal texts defining and protecting the status of "whistleblowers". A little-studied consequence of this process is the multiplication of administrative agents who play the role of intermediaries between the social actors who launch these alerts and those who deal with them. Based on the analysis of the circulation of an alert questioning the effectiveness of risk reduction measures that condition the marketing authorization of pesticides, this article shows that these intermediary actors can promote the domestication of health alerts, i.e. their translation into terms that are less problematic for the public policiesand authorities in place.

Politix, 2015

Building on an analysis of a social movement that brings together French farmers who denounce the... more Building on an analysis of a social movement that brings together French farmers who denounce the impact of pesticide on their health, we consider the role of political coalitions in the emergence and development of “victims’” movements. In our case, we demonstrate that the creation of the farmers’ movement was greatly facilitated by environmental organizations, which helped the farmers to group together and gave them access to resources and frames through which to mobilize. We analyze how the political distance between farmers and environmental activists has put their coalition under stress over time and identify factors that helped the coalition to hold up. More broadly, this article illustrates the importance of analyzing this coalition work over time to understand the evolution of victims’ mobilizations.

Des journalistes qui font les victimes ? Le traitement médiatique des maladies professionnelles l... more Des journalistes qui font les victimes ? Le traitement médiatique des maladies professionnelles liées aux pesticides Jean-Noël Jouzel et Giovanni Prete Résumé Cet article porte sur l'interaction entre mouvements sociaux et médias. À partir d'une enquête qualitative sur la médiatisation des maladies professionnelles liées aux pesticides, nous montrons comment des professionnels du journalisme ont contribué à l'engagement d'agriculteurs s'estimant victimes de ces produits dans une cause politique. Cependant, à la suite des sociologues qui ont alerté sur le risque des analyses média-centriques, nous mettons en évidence le rôle de tiers-militants environnementalistes ou professionnels du droit-dans l'interaction entre médias et victimes, et soulignons que ces dernières développent des stratégies pour maîtriser leur image médiatique et affirmer une voix politique propre dans l'espace public.

Sociologie du Travail, 2015

This article analyses the effects of legal action on the mobilisation of farmworkers suffering fr... more This article analyses the effects of legal action on the mobilisation of farmworkers suffering from illnesses they link to the use of pesticides. It draws on a qualitative survey conducted with members of the Phyto-Victims Association, a protest organization comprised of sick farmworkers, their families, and the legal professionals who support them. Using this material, we retrace the paths taken by these farmworkers to obtain recognition for their status as pesticide "victims". We describe the ambiguous effects of the law on this process at both individual and collective levels. We show how the law helps farmworkers to see their illness as an injury requiring compensation and to consider themselves as "occupational victims". We also suggest that legal action prevents a full exploration of the responsibilities involved, and may trap farmworkers in a reductive face-off with pesticide producers.

Une importante litterature a mis en evidence la democratisation progressive du systeme de sante. ... more Une importante litterature a mis en evidence la democratisation progressive du systeme de sante. Cette evolution constitue un enjeu majeur pour les associations de malades et leur donne acces a des espaces d'action et des ressources nouvelles. A partir d'une enquete sur l'Association Francaise des Diabetiques, cet article montre que la capacite des associations de malade a tirer partie de cette evolution est problematique. Il decrit comment la direction nationale de cette federation d'associations encourage une transformation des modes de mobilisation a differents niveaux organisationnels et analyse les difficultes qu'elle rencontre. A partir d'une comparaison entre trois regions, l'article distingue deux configurations : une configuration de continuite des modes d'action ; une configuration de transformation des modes d'action marquee, paradoxalement, par une autonomisation croissante avec la direction nationale. En analysant des elements qui fav...

Lectures, 2013

In contrast to the voluminous literature on stock return predictability that focuses on the aggre... more In contrast to the voluminous literature on stock return predictability that focuses on the aggregate market portfolio, we analyze return predictability for a variety of components of the aggregate market, including portfolios sorted on industries, size, and book-to-market. Considering 14 economic variables from Goyal and Welch (2008) and 33 lagged industry returns from Hong, Torous, and Valkanov (2007) as predictors, we find that returns for certain component portfolios are substantially more predictable using both in-sample and out-of-sample tests. Construction, textiles, apparel, furniture, printing, automobiles, and manufacturing are among the industry sector portfolios exhibiting the greatest degree of predictability. In addition, portfolios of small-cap and high book-to-market firms typically display greater predictability. Factors such as sensitivity to macroeconomic fundamentals and risk as well as industry concentration and capitalization help to account for differences in predictability across component portfolios. Finally, we show that predictability can be exploited to improve portfolio performance for component-rotation investment strategies.

Http Www Theses Fr, 2010

A partir d’une etude des mobilisations entourant l’introduction d’organismes de quarantaine patho... more A partir d’une etude des mobilisations entourant l’introduction d’organismes de quarantaine pathogenes des plantes agricoles en France, cette these analyse la participation des acteurs et organisations scientifiques (INRA) aux traitements collectifs des problemes sanitaires et environnementaux. S’appuyant sur une demarche qualitative et un cadre theorique qui combine sociologie des organisations, Risk Studies et Science & Technology Studies, elle montre que cette participation est, hors des arenes d’expertise formalisees et des controverses publiques, largement constituee d’ « activites d’intermediation » qui ne s’inscrivent pas necessairement dans un objectif direct de production de connaissances et qui permettent de produire du lien entre les differents mondes concernes (scientifiques, administratifs et industriels). Cinq chapitres permettent d’explorer ces activites, de discuter des travaux de recherche recents en analysant differents enjeux collectifs: l’alerte sur les pathogenes, la gestion des foyers decouverts, la construction des programmes de recherche, la securisation et la normalisation des dispositifs experimentaux, la surveillance environnementale. Ils permettent egalement d’ouvrir des pistes de reflexions sur les processus de rationalisation a l’œuvre dans la gestion des problemes sanitaires et environnementaux.

Revue d'anthropologie des connaissances, 2013

« Les frontières de la mobilisation scientifique, entre recherche et administration. Démarcation ... more « Les frontières de la mobilisation scientifique, entre recherche et administration. Démarcation et alignement de la recherche finalisée face à l'introduction de pathogènes agricoles» Revue d'anthropologie des connaissances 1/2013 (Vol. 7, n° 1), pp. 45-66 Giovanni PRETE Résumé À partir du suivi des mobilisations accompagnant l'introduction de deux pathogènes agricoles de quarantaine, cet article explore l'articulation des activités de recherche et des activités administratives sur les risques collectifs hors des arènes formalisées de l'expertise. Il montre que les postures d'expertise légitimes font, au sein d'un organisme de recherche finalisée (INRA), l'objet de débat au cours même du travail scientifique, qui exerce une influence sur les orientations de recherche privilégiées. L'article met également en évidence que ces débats sont influencés par le positionnement des pouvoirs publics vis-à-vis des objets de recherche, c'est-à-dire par la manière dont l'administration constitue ces objets comme « problèmes » sanitaires. Ce faisant, l'article montre que la formalisation des relations entre monde scientifique et monde administratif n'empêche pas certaines formes d'alignement des orientations de recherche sur des objectifs de gestion publique. Mots clés : risque ; recherche scientifique ; expertise ; agriculture 1 Rappelons qu'à sa création et jusqu'en 1981, l'Inra est sous la seule tutelle du ministère de l'Agriculture.

Politix, 2015

Building on an analysis of a social movement that brings together French farmers who denounce the... more Building on an analysis of a social movement that brings together French farmers who denounce the impact of pesticide on their health, we consider the role of political coalitions in the emergence and development of “victims’” movements. In our case, we demonstrate that the creation of the farmers’ movement was greatly facilitated by environmental organizations, which helped the farmers to group together and gave them access to resources and frames through which to mobilize. We analyze how the political distance between farmers and environmental activists has put their coalition under stress over time and identify factors that helped the coalition to hold up. More broadly, this article illustrates the importance of analyzing this coalition work over time to understand the evolution of victims’ mobilizations.