Bovins à la musculature hors norme, les Blanc Bleu Belge témoignent, entre autres, des excès d'un modèle productiviste. Quelles sont les limites des infrastructures de sélection et de reproduction des animaux de rente, à l'heure où se multiplie les promesses biotechnologiques qui veulent faire de l'élevage une "technologie obsolète"? À quels modes d'élevage tenons-nous?

The field of livestock selection and reproduction has been going far into the economization of life and the convertibility of productivity factors into sound cur-rencies. However, farming practices are undergoing a lot of stresses; economic stress, climatic stress and social stress with cultured meat arising together with strong moral and ethical claims from vegetarian and vegan consumers. Farming institutions are trying to cope with these challenges and, in so doing, advocate other sets of values that would allegedly « remedy » what would be best described as a state of enduring disaster. Part of these responses partake with the scientific and rational endeavor livestock farming inherits from, especially with the prolonga-tion of genetics into genomics. While genetics afforded impressive increases in productivity, it has also led to exhaust living organisms, biodiversity in herds and environments. In this contribution, focusing on the case of cattle livestock selection and reproduction through genomics practices, we will unfold and contrast two dif-ferent modes of valuation that are more qualitative than qualitative. We will focus on cases of Belgium and The Netherlands, to show how different values such as the « heath » of herd animals or « the environment » are cast, defined, and enacted in practices of selection and reproduction. This will hint us into the variety of « modes of valuation » as both performative and ontological operations, which end up ma-terially shaping bovine bodies and rendering certain farming practices possible or impossible.

In this paper we focus on how models carry out correlations and how correlations are used as techniques of government. Correlations are fragile exercises which put together two phenomenon, e.g. one nanoparticle and one toxic effect, without linking them with a straight causality. We examine correlations in the situated case of QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship) models applied to the toxicity of nanoparticles. Using scientific and regulatory documentation related to QSAR, and the preliminary results of an empirical study of a QSAR project conducted in France, we analyze the initial expectations, i.e. providing knowledge on nanoparticles useful for regulatory purposes, and how this ambition was confronted to the refusal of nanoparticles to feed the QSAR models in a satisfying way. We argue that this led to "thinking on the edge" the wonders and worries of correlation. This calls for a pragmatics of correlation: what does it do? Which are the effects and consequences of a "co-relating" approach? Exploring these questions leads us to examine the type of knowledge produced through models applied to large sets of data, and how it contributes to certain types of regulatory objectivity, particularly in the European legal context. Thus, we discuss the ways in which a pragmatics of correlation offers analytical entry points for the study of the contemporary transformation of the public administration of technical objects.  

The loose condition of "autism" is undergoing through a broad process of (re)definition under the aegis of genomic medicine, which promises to find (epi)genetic causes to autism, or at least to some forms of the Autism Spectrum Disorder. What is at stake is a scientific controversy about the very definition of the condition, i.e. the diagnosis itself. Whether it is considered primarily as a psychopathology or as a genetic disorder has consequences. It has implications regarding who would have the authority to diagnose the condition but also about the ways of taking care of persons with autism. In this paper, we depart from the paradox that some patients' organizations claim for a "geneticization" of the condition, so as to get rid of any sort of "psy-" related dimensions. It seems paradoxical because if the causes of autism are to be found in the genes, and hereby partly determined, it would seem to imply that the margins for effective therapy are narrowing down. We want to test the hypothesis that the more objective, "naturalized" a diagnosis is, the more it opens up possibilities for broadening the therapeutic reach outside the autist bodies, questioning the "milieu" of the disorder — the environment through which it is produced and the wealth of linkages and relationships through which living with autism could be eased. In other words, stressing that the diagnosis is a site to explore these contested dimensions of autism, its "geneticization" could lead to more active uptakes in patients care, whereas blurry diagnosis could not afford a similar reach. Following a pragmatic stance of an "art of consequences" (I. Stengers), we investigate the tensions raised by a genetic diagnosis which tends to "objectify" or "naturalize" the causes of the condition with respect to the lived experiences of persones with autism and their relatives, following some of the contested dimensions of a "politics of diagnosis" in their effects on affected autistic bodies and minds. To unfold those issues, our ongoing inquiry considers the interactions between various persons and institutions involved in the debate in Belgium.

Building on preliminary empirical observations, this paper seeks to analyze a specific feature of science, technology and innovation (STI) policies in Wallonia (Belgium); that is, the apparent lack of contestation regarding policy making. Over the last decade, multiple programs and plans were implemented by the regional government. These reforms of STI policy are endorsed by multiple stakeholders, including parliamentary opposition, labor unions and employers’ organizations. Seemingly, Walloon STI policies do not configure as conflict zones. This is remarkable since these programs and plans reconfigure the relationship between science, technological innovation and the market. In other policy fields, opposition is more pronounced and protracted. In other places/times, STI policy is/has been a conflicting matter. This is all the more striking in a context of strategic science advent, where STI is placed at the heart of large regional policy project, building strong ties with economic development and regional identity shaping. Can STS provide the tools and vocabulary to analyze non-conflictual, « cold » situations such as current STI policies and their evolution in Wallonia? Building on semi-structured interviews with key informants, our analysis will pay attention to Walloon contextual specificities as well as macro-level considerations: can dominant, taken-for-granted master narratives such as “knowledge-based economy”, “Regional innovation systems”, or, more recently, “open and responsible innovation” account for the relative smoothness of STI policies? We conclude that there is a felt need for empirical insights to analyze how these master narratives are locally enacted.

Dans le cadre du projet DeCol “Élaborer un protocole de déconfinement participatif au GIGA”, 381 membres de la Communauté GIGA ont accepté en 48 heures de répondre à 13 questions concernant les grands éléments à prendre en considération pour envisager un déconfinement en tout sécurité en vue d’un retour possible sur le lieu de travail. Soit un taux de participation de 56,70%. Les résultats de ce premier tour exploratoire de l’enquête présentent les principaux enseignements et douze volets concrets à explorer dans le second tour de l’enquête. Chaque volet reprend une série de “suggestions” concrètes de mesures (voir section 3.3 du présent rapport), qui pourront faire l’objet d’une discussion et d’un approfondissement dans le tour 2.

As the use of models is increasing within regulatory bodies, it is important to grasp both the empirical practices of producing and using them, and their political meaning. At stake here is the possibility of identifying the characteristics of a way of governing anticipations that would be based on models. In this paper, we engage in such an exploration by focusing on models developed to predict the potential risks of chemicals. These models, called “Quantitative Structure-Activities Relationship” (QSAR), are based on statistical correlations between a set of descriptors (e.g. chemical composition, crystalline structures…) and a set of physicochemical properties, including potential toxicity. They are developed using a limited number of substances that serve as reference points, so that the properties of other chemicals could later be predicted by the model, according to their proximities to the reference points. QSAR models have been promoted by regulatory agencies for over twenty years, but have been recently gaining momentum in Europe, in the wake of the REACH regulation. As the regulation on chemicals is becoming more constraining on private companies, usual experimental approaches raise many concerns (which are lengthy, costly and often requires animal testing). Based on the analysis of the relevant documentation, interviews with scientists and regulators, as well as the ethnographic observation of a recent research project attempting to developed QSAR models for nanomaterials, this paper provides the preliminary elements for describing the mode of governing anticipation that emerges from the use of such models. We contend that QSAR approaches offer empirical examples to identify a mode of governing anticipation based on flexibility, understood at the epistemic and political levels.

Les humanités médicales constituent un champ de recherches et de pratiques en plein essor. Elles interrogent les savoirs et les pratiques en médecine en mobilisant l'histoire, la philosophie, les sciences sociales et les arts. Les humanités médicales ne viennent pas, tels des compléments ou des suppléments, "humaniser" les savoirs et les pratiques de la médecine, ni simplement en éclairer les aspects politiques, sociaux ou éthiques ; plus fondamentalement, elles analysent comment ces savoirs et ces pratiques sont des constructions politiques et sociales, intellectuelles et morales. Les humanités médicales contribuent ainsi à renouveler les objets et les pratiques de la médecine, en mettant en oeuvre avec elle des collaborations informées et critiques. Ce livre est le premier ouvrage de référence en langue française dans ce domaine. Il fait le point sur l'histoire et l'actualité des humanités médicales. Au fil des 29 chapitres qui le composent, l'ouvrage rend compte de recherches menées par des acteurs reconnus internationalement, mais aussi d'initiatives de médecins, de patients, de citoyens et d'enseignants en facultés de médecine visant à accroître la puissance d'agir des acteurs du soin. Par son approche multidisciplinaire, il investit des problématiques qui font appréhender autrement les questions de santé et de soin, notamment : la culture médicale, le management à l'hôpital, la place de l'industrie pharmaceutique dans les sciences et la formation médicales, les apports et limites de la "santé globale" , les relations entre les milieux et les maladies, les enjeux de la narration en médecine, l'introduction des humanités dans la formation médicale, etc. Cet ouvrage intéressera non seulement les chercheurs, enseignants et étudiants en humanités médicales et en médecine, mais aussi l'ensemble des acteurs de santé, professionnels, patients et usagers.

Agencies have historically developed in Belgium, endorsing public activities not only at the federal level, but also at the level of decentralised governments (regions and communities). The current landscape in the Southern part of the county is more and more taking the form of a mosaic with very little efforts in terms of cooperation : this is particularly true when the agencies addressing similar target groups in a given sector are responding to different levels of governments with very little interaction, the coordination being organised by the users' themselves, according to their own strategies. At the same time, some agencies are taking more of a centre stage position : they not only provide services and support to their target group, they also fruitfully contribute to their status and identity building. Using a cultural approach may help study the "art of the state" in its diversity (Hood, 1998). We propose to concentrate the analysis on the emergence of two Agencies whose mission is to support professionals working in the public sector. Based on a recent field work on the transformation of the sector of public research, we will analyse how the FNRS (an agency funding public research) succeeded to survive as an independent agency through since 1928 (Halleux & Xhayet, 2008), adapting to the transforming socio-political context: it emerged as an industry based project and transformed into a "mertonian" institution of knowledge contributing to unify the scientific community at the level of the country, while bypassing the historical divisions of the three worlds of universities in the country (Fallon, 2009). A diachronic analysis helps underline how socially constructed is such an institution, and how the configuration of networks are continuously reshaping themselves to better be embedded in a specific historic society (Laborier, 2003). The FNRS is currently struggling to define new forms of cooperation with the universities (and their researchers) which are themselves embarked in the current stream of transformations introducing techniques derived from New Public Management in research organisations (de Boer, Enders, Schimank, 2007). In quite a different sector, another field work using the same methodological approach analysed the emergence of a very recent agency, EASI-WAL, serving the regional administration in order to encourage administrative simplicity (OCDE, 2003, 2005) and reported the shortcomings of this organisation in organising avenues for professional change with the civil servants (Thoreau, Fallon, Joris,2009). The two field work research were organised as case study analysis, with document analysis, face to face interviews and in situ observation, using research tools derived from the sociology of science (Actor-Network Theory in Callon,1986). The paper will present the outcomes of the analysis of the dynamics of the cooperation between the agency and its target groups (FNRS & researchers; EASI-WAL & civil servants) and their outcomes in terms of innovation and organisational learning. We observe the implementation of two institutions both designed to support the emergence of some common goal within their target collectives (elitist -research; administrative simplicity): they autonomously gave shape to their internal procedures of categorisation and hierarchisation, with identification processes contributing to the definition of institutional boundaries defining a specific field while ensuring its inscription in the network through a specific legitimating strategy (Douglas, 1986). This analysis will unveil some of the mechanisms of cooperation of the different stakeholders supporting the institution, and also the struggle between stakeholders for the definition of settings of participation and administrative and political control.

La conférence propose une analyse raisonnée du rôle précis des réseaux sociaux dans les premières révolutions arabes, particulièrement en Tunisie et en Egypte. Elle conclut à une approche critique du discours médiatique sur la question, qui propose une vision à la fois linéaire et totalement surévaluée de l'importance de ces technologies dans la genèse du mouvement social.