Conference given outside the academic context (Diverse speeches and writings)
Science et magie
Pieron, Julien; Thoreau, François
2013
Book review (Scientific journals)
Recension: S. Lacour (dir.), La régulation des nanotechnologies. Clair-obscur normatif, coll. Droit des technologies, Bruxelles, Larcier, 2010, 288 pp.
Thoreau, François
2011In Cahier du Juriste, 2, p. 57-58
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
On Reflections and Reflexivity: Unpacking Research Dispositifs
Thoreau, François
2011In Zülsdorf, Torben; Coenen, Christopher; Ferrari, Arianna et al. (Eds.) Quantum Engagements: Social Reflections of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies
Abstract. Science and Technology Studies (STS) scholars increasingly engage with science and technology (S&T) practitioners, scientists, engineers, and the like. The actual dynamics of these engagements differ from one project, framework or school to the next. However, to be reflexive, such engagements need at some point to deal with the ambiguous relationship between ‘engager’ and ‘engaged’. In an attempt to disambiguate these interactive ties, this chapter takes inspiration from Vinciane Despret, a philosopher of science who has provided ethnographic studies of ethologists. It specifically draws on two of Despret’s arguments about experiments on animals, more precisely rats, and the paradoxical relationships to which they give rise. By means of analogy, it then illustrates the similar ways in which we, as STS scholars, might happen to frame our interactions with S&T practitioners. It argues that any experimental research dispositif necessarily implies a specific relationship dynamic with whoever is engaged. This should not be considered as an obstacle, but instead an opportunity for learning—yet only if the dispositif is open to protest. The analysis here took shape during an engagement study conducted at a large-scale R&D center in Flanders, Belgium. It is informed by ongoing involvement in a broader research project (STIR) that aims at fostering reflexivity among S&T practitioners.
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Embedding ‘‘Science and Society’’ within Nanotechnologies’ Development
Thoreau, François
2011Symposium on Nanotechnology in Society. Governance of Nanotechnology in Belgian and European Contexts
These slides introduce nanotechnology as a voluntarist public policy. It addresses the societal dimensions of such policies, that is its social, ethical and legal aspects. It then focuses on one particular research project which aims at integrating such concerns into practices of research and development. Then, it raises issues, questions and ambiguities as for the role of social scientists in such a process.
Master’s dissertation (Dissertations and theses)
Le financement public des cultes et de la laïcité en Belgique. Quelles évolutions pour le pluralisme philosophique?
Thoreau, François
2008
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Yet Another Story of Networks! Prospects for Performing "Responsible Innovation"
Thoreau, François
2011Annual Meeting of the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S)
Book review (Scientific journals)
Frédéric Gaillard, Pièces et main d'oeuvre, L’industrie de la contrainte, Montreuil, L'échappée, 2011
Thoreau, François
2011In Lectures
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Expansions of Nanotechnology
van Lente, Harro; Coenen, Christopher; Fleischer, Torsten et al.
2012In van Lente, Harro; Coenen, Christopher; Fleischer, Torsten et al. (Eds.) Little by Little: Expansions of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies
Little by little, nanotechnology has emerged amid enormous anticipations and fantastic promises of new materials, aspiring to manipulate our world “atom by atom.” While these grand visions continue to capture the imaginations of various audiences—and continue to be contested, as well—nanotechnology has developed into more than that. During the last two decades, many research programs and industrial R&D expenditures have resulted in actual products and tangible innovations. Nanotechnology, it seems, is expanding. But what does it mean to say that nanotechnology is expanding?
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Sélection et reproduction des bovins. Une économie des singularités
Thoreau, François
2023
Eprint first made available on ORBi (E-prints, working papers and research blog)
Les Jourdain de la réflexivité : Du bon usage des incidents diplomatiques
Thoreau, François; Despret, Vinciane
2012
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Mobilité: la saga du tram à Liège
Thoreau, François
2012
External report (Reports)
Elaborer un protocole de déconfinement participatif au GIGA. Synthèse de l'enquête Delphi "cadrage" et "valider les mesures"
Parotte, Céline; Fallon, Catherine; Delvenne, Pierre et al.
2020
How to deconfine safely? At present, many countries are considering a deconfinement strategy, with only few having implemented it. The "best practices", thus, still need to be defined. In this context, the GIGA community would like to carry out "a deconfinement experience in real time". Concretely, the GIGA proposes to collectively define its "deconfinement" methods, and to deploy them, by designing and implementing a deconfinement protocol. The report presents the results on the online survey on "Community engagement in designing a modus operandi to lift GIGA's lockdown. Based on the Delphi Method, the GIGA community members have been invited to identify their expectations on the future protocol and suggested concrete measures for the deconfinement protocol. There were 381 people who completed the first round of the survey (56,70% participation rate) and 340 for the second round of the survey.
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Vouloir vivre malgré le terrorisme
Thoreau, François
2015
Poster (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Introducing the Belgian Science and Technology Studies Network (BSTS)
Meyers, Gert; Van Oudheusden, Michiel; Thoreau, François et al.
20142014 EASST Conference Situating Solidarties: Social Challenges for Science and Technology Studies
Book published as author, translator, etc. (Books)
La solitude du muscle, le poids du génome: Quand l'infrastructure cultive des bovins
Thoreau, François; Vanderstraeten, Simon; Gabet, Roxane et al.
2024Panthère Première
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?
Editorial reviewed
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Les nanotechnologies, entre l'espoir et les craintes
Thoreau, François
2009
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
De quels savoirs voulons-nous ? Pluralité d’expertises en temps de crise pandémique
Fallon, Catherine; Thoreau, François
2020
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Rejouer les partitions disciplinaires : l’interdisciplinarité comme épreuve dans le cas de la génomique
Fallon, Catherine; Thoreau, François
2016In Benninghoff, Martin; Crespy, Cecile; Charlier, Jean Emile et al. (Eds.) Le gouvernement des disciplines académiques Acteurs, dynamiques, instruments, échelles
Les chercheurs en sciences politiques et sociales, voire les philosophes politiques, sont de plus en plus souvent « embarqués » dans des projets résolument transdisciplinaires, portés par les groupes de recherche de différentes disciplines, engagés dans les développement scientifico-technologiques les plus pointus (que ce soit dans le secteur des nanotechnologies ou des biotechnologies médicale, voire de la gestion de la sécurité nucléaire, pour citer trois exemples récents) Le point de départ de cette proposition est l’observation du décloisonnement majeur opéré entre les disciplines de médecine et de sciences au cours des dix dernières années; y compris l'invitation des chercheurs en philosophie et en sciences politiques dans les departements de génétique humaine. Le texte analyse les enseignements de l’embarquement ab initio d’un groupe de chercheurs en science politique et philosophie dans le cadre du développement de thérapies géniques et de diagnostics prénatals. Ce projet GIGS (Gouvernementalité, génomique & santé) résulte en grande partie des réflexions d’un groupe de généticiens du centre hospitalo-universitaire qui observe avec étonnement des pratiques innovantes outre Atlantique, où l’embarquement des sciences humaines au cœur même des projets de sciences naturelles et médicales est une réalité. Si les apports potentiels de cette démarche sur le développement des sciences naturelles sont bien documentés dans la littérature STS (Van Oudheusden & Laurent 2013 ; Meyers et al 2014 ), la plupart de ces travaux traitent moins des effets de ces embarquements sur le développement de la discipline source, par exemple la science politique. Quelles sont les conditions de développement disciplinaire propre, pour les politologues et les autres chercheurs, dans un environnement aussi intégré que le GIGA où vétérinaires, médecins, ingénieurs et bientôt politologues et philosophes se côtoient, transformant les patients et leurs ADN autant que leurs propres outils disciplinaires tout en conservant un ancrage disciplinaire spécifique fort pour garantir la cohérence de leurs questionnements et l’acuité de leurs méthodes d’investigation face à un terrain partagé (Thoreau & Despret 2014).
Peer reviewed
Article (Scientific journals)
L’embarquement par son objet : trois politiques de l’enquête sur les clôtures virtuelles (virtual fence)
Thoreau, François
2019In Revue d'Anthropologie des Connaissances
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Nanotechnologies et « innovation responsable »: sur la gouvernementalité d’un concept
Thoreau, François
2012In Kermisch, Céline; Pinsart, Marie-Geneviève (Eds.) Les nanotechnologies : vers un changement d’échelle éthique ?
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Moving away from OECD Countries: New Directions for Studies of National Innovation Systems in Latin America
Delvenne, Pierre; Thoreau, François
2012Conférence conjointe de la Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) et de la European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST)
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
La lasagne pur-sang et la société low-cost
Ozer, Pierre; Piet, Grégory; Thoreau, François
2013
Pour satisfaire des consommateurs en quête de toujours plus de pouvoir d’achat, la Commission européenne soutient des gros producteurs low-cost pour une nourriture low-cost (avec des contrôles limités). Stop! Et vive l’agriculture locale.
Specialised master (Dissertations and theses)
The ‘interpretive flexibility’ of nanotechnologies in context: the case of a leading R&D center in Flanders, Belgium
Thoreau, François
2010
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Pourquoi les "nanotechnologies" sont-elles importantes?
Thoreau, François
2011Les nanotechnologies: méga révolution et nano risques?
Book review (Scientific journals)
Du bon usage des catastrophes, de Régis Debray
Thoreau, François
2012In Revue Nouvelle, 66 (2), p. 74-77
Book review (Scientific journals)
Jean Gadrey, Adieu à la croissance. Bien vivre dans un monde solidaire
Thoreau, François
2012In Lectures
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Drawing technical contrasts to address prenatal testing
Thoreau, François
2016Inhabiting postgenomic worlds: reconfiguring responsibilities and solidarities
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
What do these cattle do in a biomedical research center?
Thoreau, François
2016Annual meeting of the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S)
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Une journée avec Bruno Latour
Thoreau, François
2023Une journée avec Bruno Latour
Editorial reviewed
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Emerging Patterns of Depoliticization and Engagement to Inform the Future of Science and Technology Studies: A Case Study in Nanotechnologies
Thoreau, François
2009Futures of Social Sciences and Humanities
In this paper, we address the issue of the future of a particular field of research in social science: Science and Technology Studies (STS). Although this is a very young research field, its history is already diverse and its evolutions are fastly moving on. Its rapid expansion and its characteristic feature of crossing disciplinary boundaries are making it an interesting case to study, which takes a particular place in the overall history – and future – of social changes. As we shall indicate, STS have an increasing committment for the resolution of sociotechnical controversies. In this paper, we problematise this particular position by underlying the implicit politics of STS research and how they will shape the future of that particular field. Our approach is threefold. First, we give a brief overview of the history of the field and we point out the main evolutions since the developement of the Social Construction of Technology approach (SCOT) in the 1980s that long influenced the field. By doing so, we underline the epistemological critical tradition that gave the field some of its particularities that we address. We show how this tradition brought important insights of “political” nature within the development of the field. Second, our ambition is to highlight new patterns of evolution of the STS field, emphasizing the trends towards both a greater depoliticisation and a more engaged research. By “depoliticisation”, we intend to analyse the dynamics of institutionalisation of the field which adopts resources and tools to legitimate itself among the social scientific community. By “engaged” research, we will explore the evolutions of the STS field as inherently political. The field does have an implicit statement in favor of changing social order and an increasing willingness to actually influence that social change. In that respect, research projects in STS often have underlying politics, as we shall demonstrate. Third, we give a concrete example of these new patterns occuring, relying on the growing importance of nanotechnologies, both in the STS literature and research projects. We consider this case study to be intertwined with the development of STS as a field of research. In that sense, we stress that nanotechnologies happened to be a powerful tool for legitimation for the STS community. Therefore, we — as STS scholars — suggest instrumentalizing the interest we have in nanotechnologies in order to observe the evolutions of our field of research. Then, nanotechnologies will constitute an interesting ground to perform a test that will show depoliticisation and engagement as patterning the STS field.
Book review (Scientific journals)
La régulation des nanotechnologies. Clair-obscur normatif, by Stéphanie Lacour. Brussels: Larcier, 2010, 179 pp., 55 €, Paperback
Thoreau, François
2011In European Journal of Risk Regulation, (3)
Book review (Scientific journals)
Jocelyne Porcher, Vivre avec les animaux. Une utopie pour le XXIe siècle, La Découverte, coll. « textes à l'appui », 2011
Thoreau, François
2011In Lectures
Book review (Scientific journals)
Charles Wright Mills, L'élite au pouvoir, Agone, coll. « L'ordre des choses », 2012
Thoreau, François
2012In Lectures
Article (Scientific journals)
Beyond the ‘‘Charmed Circle’’ of OECD: New Directions for Studies of National Innovation Systems
Delvenne, Pierre; Thoreau, François
2012In Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy, 50 (2), p. 205-219
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Article (Scientific journals)
"One to rule them all"? The standardisation of nanotechnologies
Thoreau, François
2011In European Journal of Risk Regulation, 3
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Article (Scientific journals)
L’État et la gestion de la grippe A(H1N1)
Rossignol, Nicolas; Thoreau, François
2012In Revue Nouvelle, 10
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Le calcul de la vache optimale: pratiques génomiques dans un centre de recherche biomédicale
Thoreau, François
2017"Humanimachine": (Re)configurer les interactions ?
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Situer les humanités médicales
Zimmer, Alexis; Thoreau, François; Lefève, Céline
2020In Zimmer, Alexis; Thoreau, François; Lefève, Céline (Eds.) Les humanités médicales. L’engagement des sciences sociales en médecine.
- Concerne toutes les disciplines relevant des sciences médicales et sociales - Les humanités médicales contribuent à renouveler les méthodes de recherches et de pratiques biomédicales - L'ouvrage présente des initiatives de médecins, de collectifs de patients, de citoyens et d'enseignants qui tentent d'accroître la puissance d'agir des acteurs du soin Cet ouvrage investit la notion d'humanités médicales et met l'accent sur la manière dont celles-ci ont été introduites en France. Il interroge les manières dont diverses disciplines (notamment l'histoire, les sciences sociales, la philosophie, les arts) problématisent les transformations qui affectent aujourd'hui les conditions d'émergence des pathologies ainsi que les savoirs et pratiques de la biomédecine. Il rend compte de situations problématiques qui contraignent à renouveler les questions de la santé et du soin, notamment : le management à l'hôpital, les liens entre les maladies et les milieux, la place de l'industrie pharmaceutique dans l'épistémologie et la formation médicales. L'ouvrage présente aussi des initiatives de médecins, de collectifs de patients, de citoyens et d'enseignants en humanités médicales qui tentent d'accroître la puissance d'agir des acteurs du soin, qu'ils soient professionnels de santé ou malades. Les auteurs font le pari que les humanités médicales offrent l'opportunité de ne pas rejouer arbitrairement la division entre, d'un côté, les savoirs biomédicaux et, de l'autre, les humanités ; les premiers se chargeant de décrire la « réalité » jugée fondamentale des maladies et des traitements, les secondes étudiant les aspects sociaux, moraux ou politiques censés accompagner la pratique médicale. Au contraire, en même temps qu'il éclaire le caractère sociopolitique des pratiques biomédicales, il démontre que les recherches et les pratiques des humanités médicales contribuent à renouveler les objets et les méthodes des recherches et des pratiques biomédicales elles-mêmes.
Editorial reviewed
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
The clouds of history: digital ecologies and bovine livestock reproduction
Thoreau, François
2024Digital Ecologies: Digital Dimensions of Nature Recovery Conference
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
Three Bovine Cycles: Metabo-politics and the governance of material cycles
Thoreau, François
2023
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
May the cows graze at all? The battle for pastures in Pinzolo, Italy
Thoreau, François
2023AAA/CASCA Annual Meeting
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Reset inquiry!
D'Hoop, Ariane; Thoreau, François; Maury, Elsa et al.
2016In Latour, Bruno; Leclerc, Bruno (Eds.) Reset Modernity!
Editorial reviewed
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
“Selecting and reproducing farm animals in times of ecological disasters: modes of valuation of cattle livestock in Belgium and The Netherlands”
Thoreau, François; Bal, Jenske; Vanderstraeten, Simon
2023STS-Swiss
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.
Doctoral thesis (Dissertations and theses)
Embarquement immédiat pour les nanotechnologies responsables. Comment poser et re-poser la question de la réflexivité?
Thoreau, François
2013
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Beyond the 'Charmed Circle' of OECD: New Directions for Studies of National Innovation Systems
Delvenne, Pierre; Thoreau, François
2012Red de Estudios Sociales de Ciencia y Tecnologia (Spanish STS Network)
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Le fantasme Facebook : n’est pas révolutionnaire qui veut !
Thoreau, François
2011
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Are bio and nano likely to be compared? If so, what are the consequences on public participation?
Thoreau, François
2009AAAS Graduate students meeting
Like modern biotechnologies, nanotechnologies are a generic area of research linked with several interconnected disciplinary fields. They may be converted into a large panel of applications. It also brings, with its development, promises of a quite huge potential including important economic opportunities. Both of those emergent technologies also raise important social, ethical or environmental issues. Nevertheless, many substantive differences remain between biotechnologies and nanotechnologies. The former was introduced in society by a time public actors were less sensitive to public participation, as shows the history of parliamentary Technology Assessment. A lack of public participation is often told to have grounded some public opposition to some particular biotechnologies, with the usually quoted case of GMOs. The latter are currently under development in quite other circumstances, as social shaping of technology begins to be widely acknowledged and role played by STS community grows faster. Nanotechnologies deal with more uncertainties and more complexity. So it is commonly accepted that, within their development process, they should include more public participation to avoid some pitfalls of biotechnologies. Still, other differences that context exist between biotechnologies and nanotechnologies. It may be stressed that biotechnologies have left laboratories for a private financial designing of marketable products and that nanotechnologies are just starting to leave laboratories under great public impulsions, with wide public support and funding, as in the case of the National Nanotechnology Initiative in the US. So in the presentation we consider whether, given those differences, biotechnologies and nanotechnologies are likely to be compared. Then we pick a look to potential consequences related to public participation. Should there be more public participation? What for? Should it be driven in a different way?
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Modulations of the laboratory: articulations between individual and institutional dynamics in a Flemish R&D center, Belgium
Thoreau, François
20104S 35th annual meeting
Poster (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Integrated Research and Protected Spaces: a New Role for STS?
Thoreau, François
2009S.NET annual meeting
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Les stratégies wallonnes en matière de simplification administrative
Thoreau, François
2009Colloque international du CERAP: les réformes de l’administration vues d’en bas
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
The pragmatics of correlation or how models reshape the government of technical objects
Thoreau, François; Laurent, Brice
201540th annual meeting of the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S)
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.  
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Les datacenters, métaphore du capitalisme
Thoreau, François
2014
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Du bon usage des faits en régime de " post­-vérité"
Thoreau, François; Zimmer, Alexis
2017
Course notes (Learning materials)
Nanotechnologies and REACH
Thoreau, François
2017
Collective work published as editor or director (Books)
L'appel des entités fragiles. Enquêter avec les Modes d'existence de Bruno Latour
Thoreau, François; d'Hoop, Ariane
2018Presses de l'Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
Mener l'enquête, voilà bien le défi toujours renouvelé des sciences sociales. Surtout lorsqu'elles ont affaire à des personnes de terrain qui mènent sans cesse leurs propres enquêtes pratiques, qu'il s'agisse de projets d'architectes, de dispositifs de surveillance, de vignobles, de lieux de soin, d'œuvres d'art ou encore de luttes sociales. Ce livre investigue une telle variété de situations, dans le prolongement de la proposition formulée par Bruno Latour dans son Enquête sur les modes d'existence. Les différentes contributions ont pour point commun de prêter attention à une série d'entités peu visibles et dont l'existence est fragile, mais qui n'en contribuent pas moins à caractériser les situations décrites. Préfacé par Antoine Hennion, sociologue des médiations, ce livre est issu d'un travail véritablement collectif mené par des chercheuses.eurs en sciences sociales, artistes et architectes.
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
La preuve par le mashup: D. J. Haraway et les deux cultures de la modernisation réflexive
Thoreau, François
20154ème Séminaire FRUCTIS autour de Donna Haraway
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Premières notes pour l'ethnographie d'un projet européen en situation embarquée
Thoreau, François
2015Séminaire sur l'embarquement des sciences sociales
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Reset Inquiry!
Thoreau, François; d'Hoop, Ariane; Amat, Amandine et al.
2016In Latour, Bruno (Ed.) Reset Modernity
Preface, postface, glossary... (Parts of books)
Post-scriptum au rêve américain
Thoreau, François
2020In Monaco, Marc (Ed.) À l'ombre du rêve américain
Article (Scientific journals)
A situated expert judgment: QSAR models and transparency in the European regulation of chemicals
Thoreau, François; Laurent, Brice
2019In Science and Technology Studies
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
Infrastructures plurielles de la génomique dans le cas de la sélection et de la reproduction des bovins d'élevage
Thoreau, François
2022
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
L’infrastructure génomique comme entreprise de remédiation écologique ?
Thoreau, François
2023
Article (Scientific journals)
La normalisation des nanotechnologies
Thoreau, François
2011In Revue de la Faculté de Droit de l'Université de Liège, (3-4), p. 427-444
Peer reviewed
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Fragments de notre condition numérique
Thoreau, François
2011Tout n'est pas net. Cyberd@ngers au quotidien
Article (Scientific journals)
Visualiser à l'échelle du nanomètre
Thoreau, François
2011In Revue Nouvelle, 66 (11), p. 54-65
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Prospects for performing «responsible innovation» in research institutions
Thoreau, François
2011S.NET 3rd annual meeting
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
"Taming the publication machine", or Discourse Analysis made Subliminal
Thoreau, François
2010UA Worskhop on Discourse Analysis
Book review (Scientific journals)
Pierre-Henri Gouyon, Miguel Bensayag, Fabriquer le vivant ? Ce que nous apprennent les sciences de la vie sur les défis de notre époque
Thoreau, François
2012In Lectures
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
What can a diagnosis do? The case of the "genetization" of autism
Thoreau, François; Duysens, Fanny
20166th STS Italia Conference – Sociotechnical Environments
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.
Collective work published as editor or director (Books)
Pratiques de l'enquête
Pieron, Julien; Thoreau, François
In pressPresses Universitaires de Liège
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Toxic Tours et formation des professionnels de santé
Zimmer, Alexis; Thoreau, François; Hache, Émilie et al.
2020In Zimmer, Alexis; Thoreau, François; Lefève, Céline (Eds.) Les humanités médicales. L’engagement des sciences sociales en médecine
Peer reviewed
Book review (Scientific journals)
Laurent (Brice), Les politiques des nanotechnologies. Pour un traitement démocratique d’une science émergente
Thoreau, François
2011In Politix: Revue des Sciences Sociales du Politique, 2011/4 (96), p. 187-190
Peer reviewed
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Compte - rendu d'enquête: sciences sociales et humanités médicales
Zimmer, Alexis; Thoreau, François
2017Colloque national du Collège des Humanités médicales 2017
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Re-prises d’une lutte en cours. Sur les modes d’existence de la bataille d’Orgreave et de son re-enactment
Maury, Elsa; Thoreau, François
2018In Thoreau, François; d'Hoop, Ariane (Eds.) L'appel des entités fragiles. Enquêter avec les Modes d'existence de Bruno Latour
En 1984 éclate au Royaume-Uni un conflit qui va signer la défaite historique du syndicat minier et marquer le début de l'effondrement de pans entiers de l'industrie britannique, sous les coups de boutoir du front de modernisation ouvert par Margaret Thatcher. Le point d'orgue de cette lutte se joue à quelques encablures du site minier d'Orgreave, où la police parvint à décomposer le mouvement des mineurs, qui devait ne pas s'en remettre. Dix-sept ans plus tard, Jeremy Deller conçoit un « re-enactment » de la scène, rassemble des figurants et des protagonistes de cette lutte-là, et rejoue cette confrontation. Quels sont les enjeux de ce re-enactment et que pouvons-nous en apprendre ? Dans ce texte, nous proposons de faire usage de l'Enquête sur les Modes d'Existence de Bruno Latour afin de prolonger le geste de Deller et de spéculer sur ses conséquences possibles pour nous, enfants des années d'hiver désormais ballotés au gré des crises à répétition qui — faut-il encore le préciser ? — sont autant d'offensives du pouvoir capitaliste contemporain.
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
Comment le regard porté par l'écologie microbienne sur les sols transforme la question de la diffusion de l'antibiorésistance
Eliçabe, Rémi; Guilbert, Amandine; Thoreau, François
2023
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
About ecologies of remediation
Thoreau, François
2022Annual meeting
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Bruno Latour, une lecture aérobique
Thoreau, François
2024In Pontille, David; Rabeharisoa, Vololona (Eds.) Une journée avec Bruno Latour
Editorial reviewed
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
An anthropology of the metabolic
Thoreau, François; Barua, Maan
2024Annual Meeting of the Society for the Social Studies of Science
Article (Scientific journals)
Serial Sires: On the Reproduction of Cows in an Era of Genomics
Thoreau, François
2023In Cultural Anthropology
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Endométriose plurielle : dispositif pilote et médecine de proximité dans un planning familial en Belgique francophone
Riethof, Shana; Bechoux, Lucas; Brun, Luce et al.
2023Colloque Genre & Gynécologie. Savoirs, pratiques et mobilisations
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
Metabolic frontier
Gabet, Roxane; Thoreau, François
2023
Communication orale de 15 minutes avec François Thoreau sur la notion de "frontière métabolique" et sa pertinence pour penser les processus coloniaux déployés à travers l'élevage bovin: historiquement (avec le cas empirique des prairies canadiennes) et dans le présent (quelles frontières faut-il aller extraire pour faire tenir l'élevage dit "hors-sol" en Europe).
Poster (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Entering into resonance: vibrations around a common world from encounters between the 9th art and science
Delvenne, Pierre; Bechoux, Lucas; Valérie Beniest et al.
2022Annual Congress of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)
What if comics allowed us to understand scientific knowledge (production) differently? Some comics, beyond their aesthetic and playful aspects, raise numerous political, ethical and societal questions that directly resonate with social science work. As part of this ‘making and doing activity’, our goal is to address sociotechnical issues, with the help of comic book writers and other artists, and to collectively rebuild spaces for collective reflection on, and engagement in, open-ended technological futures.
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Facebook, Twitter et la jeunesse arabe
Thoreau, François
2011
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Where is the Conflict? Delving in Walloon Science, Technology and Innovation Politics
Charlier, Nathan; Thoreau, François
2013Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)
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.
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Dancing without listening to the music: learning from some failures of the ‘national innovation systems’ in Latin America
Delvenne, Pierre; Thoreau, François
2017In Kuhlmann, Stefan; Ordóñez-Matamoros, Gonzalo (Eds.) Research Handbook on Innovation Governance for Emerging Economies
Peer reviewed
External report (Reports)
Élaborer un protocole de déconfinement participatif au GIGA. Résultats du premier tour exploratoire : « cadrage».
Parotte, Céline; Fallon, Catherine; Thoreau, François
2020
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.
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Pandémie A(H1N1) et gestion des risques : la responsabilité grippée ?
Chenevière, Cédric; Thoreau, François
2011In Vergès, Etienne (Ed.) Droit, sciences et techniques: quelles responsabilités?
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
On Reflections and Reflexiveness: Positioning the Self, Enframing the Other?
Thoreau, François
2010S.NET 2nd annual meeting, 2010
STS scholars are increasingly engaged with science and technology practitioners, scientists, engineers and the like. The actual dynamics of these engagements differ from one project, framework or school to the next. However, to be reflexive, such engagements exercises need to deal at some point with the ambiguous ethical relationships between engager and engaged. In an attempt to disambiguate some of these interactive ties, we begin by considering the respective agendas of involved participants. To do so, we draw upon Despret’s perspectives about experiments on animals and the paradoxical relationships they give rise to. We identify the implied injunctions among STS scholars not only to "be reflexive" but also to reflect back onto practitioners their own worldviews. We then consider some of the ethical tensions, ambiguities and paradoxes between and emerging out of reflexive engagements of the self and of the other. Particularly, we explore to what extent reflexive engagements constitute ends in themselves or means to other ends. We ground this analysis in empirical evidence from an engagement study conducted in a large-scale R&D center in Flanders, Belgium.
Article (Scientific journals)
Appréhender l'incertitude: le Technology Assessment au service du processus décisionnel
Delvenne, Pierre; Joris, Geoffrey; Thoreau, François
2008In Pyramides: Revue du Laboratoire d'Études et de Recherches en Administration Publique, 15 (1)
Le présent article porte sur les processus de décision publique en situation d’incertitudes multiples, justifiant l’ouverture des frontières de l’objet de la décision et le recours à des instruments de production de connaissance particuliers. Dans un premier temps, nous mettrons en évidence les nouveaux référentiels structurant les processus décisionnels liés à des risques scientifiquement et socialement controversés. Dans un second temps, nous présenterons le « Technology Assessment » comme un outil de gestion publique des choix technologiques, et nous nous attacherons à décrire à la fois la pertinence et les limites de cet instrument de facilitation de la prise de décision dans un contexte marqué par sa complexité et largement empreint d’incertitude.
Peer reviewed
Article (Scientific journals)
Introduction: les nanotechnologies, au-delà des fantasmes
Feltz, Bernard; Thoreau, François
2011In Revue Nouvelle, 66 (11), p. 23-27
Book review (Scientific journals)
Étienne Klein, "Le Small Bang des nanotechnologies"
Thoreau, François
2012In Esprit, 381, p. 178-180
Peer reviewed
Conference given outside the academic context (Diverse speeches and writings)
Nanotechnologies, et alors?
Thoreau, François
2012
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Responsible innovation and nanotechnologies
Thoreau, François
2011Les nanotechnologies : vers un changement d’échelle éthique?
Dès le départ, le développement des nanotechnologies a été fortement soutenu par les pouvoirs publics et marqué par une vision particulière du futur de nos sociétés occidentales. C'est notamment pour cette raison que les sciences humaines et sociales (SHS) ont été conviées à participer à la réflexion autour des nanotechnologies, dans le cadre plus général (et concomitant) de l'innovation responsable. Que ce soit aux États-Unis ou en Europe, cette évolution s'est traduite par des tentatives de mobiliser les savoirs produits en SHS, et des les rendre "opérationnels" directement au coeur des processus d'innovation, de recherche et développement. Cette démarche d'"intégration", selon la dénomination consacrée, entend briser les barrières disciplinaires. Nous abordons l'un de ces programmes de recherche spécifique, auquel nous avons collaboré, et en tirons les conclusions provisoires ainsi que quelques conséquences.
Article (Scientific journals)
Taming the “Publication Machine”: Generating Unity, Engaging the Trading Zones
Thoreau, François; Neicu, Maria
2010In Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science, 4 (1), p. 163-172
In this paper, we explore the par ticular issue of a biomedical research team engaging itself in different “trading zones” (Galison 1997). We do so by following the specific process of setting up a new microscope. We star t by briefly introducing our general understanding of the concept of “trading zone.” Then we focus on the empirical material we collected, star ting from the microscope as the researchers we followed were setting it up. Our analysis is twofold: we first describe the acts we have been witnessing, then contrast them with the surrounding discourses and provide them with a rationale. We argue that the team created a sense of unity among its individual members and how this unity, though precarious, was needed and desired in order to fur ther engage in a trading zone.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Article (Scientific journals)
The birth of the Belgian Network for Science, Technology and Society (BSTS Network)
Delvenne, Pierre; Thoreau, François
2012In EASST Review, 31 (1), p. 9-12
Article (Scientific journals)
Cultiver d’autres expertises sur les sciences et les technologies
Thoreau, François
2012In Revue Nouvelle, 10
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Universités: réapprendre la lenteur
Thoreau, François
2012
Collective work published as editor or director (Books)
Les humanités médicales. L'engagement des sciences sociales en médecine
Lefève, Céline; Thoreau, François; Zimmer, Alexis
2020DOIN John Libbey Eurotext
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
QSAR models for chemicals and nanotechnology governance?
Thoreau, François; Laurent, Brice
2020In Orsini, Amandine; Kavvatha, Elena (Eds.) EU Environmental Governance Current and Future Challenges
Peer reviewed
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
The politics of “grayboxing”: The use of QSAR models for the flexible regulation of chemicals
Thoreau, François; Laurent, Brice
2016Foreknowledge in public policy
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Elements for a diplomatic approach of ‘responsible innovation’ in nanotechnologies
Thoreau, François
2012First International conference on Ethics and Politics of Emerging Technologies (EPET)
Article (Scientific journals)
Have STS Fallen Into a Political Void? Depoliticisation and Engagement in the Case of Nanotechnologies
Thoreau, François; Delvenne, Pierre
2012In Política e Sociedade, 11 (20), p. 205-226
In this paper we trace some of the key points in the history of Science and Technology Studies (STS). In particular we outline the inherently political dynamics of the field. Against We underline two emerging patterns in the curse of STS: the one of “depoliticisation” and the one of increasing “engagement”. We address the case study nanotechnologies and discuss their intertwined history with the STS. This allows us to point at the risk that the increasing institutionalisation of STS and the political mandate that frames and stabilizes the field’s relationship to the technological developments would create a political void. We conclude that STS research is at a crossroads. It is facing an important empirical turn, which may deprive it from its political significance, and constantly redefine its institutional constraints. STS has to continuously question its underlying political assumptions (as it occurs more and more regarding public participation) and to make it explicit.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Addressing the failure of National Innovation Systems in Latin America
Delvenne, Pierre; Thoreau, François
2013European Forum for Studies of Policies for Research and Innovation (EU-SPRI)
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
L’utopie faite chair: à propos de la sélection résiliente des bovins
Thoreau, François
2018In Rafanell i Orra, Josep (Ed.) Itinérances
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
À propos des "sciences camérales" chez Stengers
Thoreau, François
2013Séminaire autour "D'une autre science est possible!" (I. Stengers)
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Situer les humanités médicales
Lefève, Céline; Thoreau, François; Zimmer, Alexis
2020In Lefève, Céline; Thoreau, François; Zimmer, Alexis (Eds.) Les humanités médicales. L'engagement des sciences sociales en médecine
Ces dernières décennies ont été marquées par l’émergence, dans le monde académique, de l’appel- lation « humanités médicales » (medical humanities). En première approximation, cette appel- lation désigne une reconfiguration interdisciplinaire des savoirs qui s’opère à l’intersection de la médecine, de la philosophie, des sciences sociales et des arts dont découle une série de prolon- gements dans la formation médicale. Bien que la définition n’en soit pas clairement arrêtée, l’expression d’« humanités médicales » remporte un vif succès. Dans le monde académique anglo- saxon dont elle provient, elle concerne un nombre croissant de centres, de départements et de programmes de recherche et d’enseignement. Les institutions scientifiques et de financement de la recherche y recourent de plus en plus volontiers. Dans le champ francophone, elle est en voie d’appropriation depuis moins de dix ans. En témoigne, par exemple, le changement de nom du Collège des enseignants en sciences humaines et sociales en médecine (CoSHSeM), devenu Col- lège des humanités médicales (ColHum) en 2016 [1]1, ou encore le développement d’initiatives pédagogiques2 ou d’un réseau de recherches endossant cette étiquette3. Cette appellation s’ins- titutionnalise et occupe un espace de plus en plus important dans le champ académique. En tant que chercheurs et enseignants en anthropologie, histoire, philosophie et sciences politiques dans les domaines de la médecine, des soins et de la santé, nous y sommes confrontés. Dès lors, il nous importe de nous en saisir et de nous positionner à son égard. C’est la proposition que nous formulons dans le présent ouvrage.
Article (Scientific journals)
‘A mechanistic interpretation, if possible’: How does predictive modelling causality affect the regulation of chemicals?
Thoreau, François
2016In Big Data and Society, July-December (1), p. 1-11
The regulation of chemicals is undergoing drastic changes with the use of computational models to predict environmental toxicity. This particular issue has not attracted much attention, despite its major impacts on the regulation of chemicals. This raises the problem of causality at the crossroads between data and regulatory sciences, particularly in the case models known as quantitative structure–activity relationship models. This paper shows that models establish correlations and not scientific facts, and it engages anew the way regulators deal with uncertainties. It does so by exploring the tension and problems raised by the possibility of causal explanation afforded by quantitative structure–activity relationship models. It argues that the specificity of predictive modelling promotes rethinking of the regulation of chemicals.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Governing anticipation through flexibility. The use of models for the regulation of chemicals
Thoreau, François; Laurent, Brice
2015114th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association (AAA)
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.
Collective work published as editor or director (Books)
Humanités médicales. L’engagement des sciences sociales en médecine.
Zimmer, Alexis; Thoreau, François; Lefève, Céline
2020Doin Éditions, Paris, France
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.
Editorial reviewed
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Endométriose plurielle : dispositif pilote et médecine de proximité dans un planning familial en Belgique francophone
Riethof, Shana; Bechoux, Lucas; Lebrun, Luce et al.
2023Colloque Genre & Gynécologie. Savoirs, pratiques et mobilisations
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Croisières toxiques. Décontenancer l’histoire industrielle de la vallée de la Meuse
Thoreau, François; Zimmer, Alexis
2019
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Opening the black box : agencies as socio-technical networks
Fallon, Catherine; Thoreau, François; Joris, Geoffrey
2010EGPA Study Group on Public Sector Organizations - EGPA Conference 2010
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.
Book review (Scientific journals)
Arno Münster, Principe responsabilité ou principe espérance ?, Le Bord de l'eau, coll. « Les voies du politique », 2010
Thoreau, François
2011In Lectures
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
QSAR models and the flexible regulation of chemicals
Thoreau, François
2017
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
Governing anticipation through flexibility: the use of models for the regulation of chemicals
Thoreau, François; Laurent, Brice
2017
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
The case for animal genomics and the prospects for modeling bovines in a bio economy
Thoreau, François
2017Annual Meeting of the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S)
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Allez vous faire paître ! Métabolisme et embrouilles pastorales à Carisolo/Pinzolo, Italie
Thoreau, François
2024La part des milieux
Article (Scientific journals)
Ouvrir, parcourir, rire: À propos de trois gestes de premiers secours de Monsieur Latour
Thoreau, François
2024In Revue d'Anthropologie des Connaissances, 18 (3)
Cette contribution cherche à restituer une pratique de l’enquête puisée au voisinage de la pensée de Bruno Latour. Elle rend compte d’une trajectoire de recherche, forcément singulière, et de différents effets d’apprentissage qui se sont avérés fort utiles pour lever certains obstacles rencontrés en chemin. Le pari est que ces effets puissent en inspirer et en nourrir d’autres, ailleurs.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Nanotechnologies. Qu'est devenu le principe de précaution?
Thoreau, François; Feltz, Bernard
2012
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
From Bio to Nano: Learning From The Past to Shape the Future of Technology Assessment
Delvenne, Pierre; Fallon, Catherine; Thoreau, François et al.
2008Society for the History Of Technology (SHOT) Annual Meeting
In many Western countries over the last 35 years, the quest for more scientific governance on
crucial technological issues led to a broadening of the political world’s sphere of competences.
Indeed, various countries decided that dealing with global, invisible, irreversible and irreparable
risks had to be handled by an appropriate tool of management of technological innovations. So the
usefulness to institutionalize parliamentary Technology Assessment (PTA) offices emerged.
Nowadays, PTA is an instrument particularly suitable to study the new shape of science and
society’s interface and it represents a remarkable attempt to reform the institutional settings of
innovation.
However, while the overall uncertainty surrounding science and technology has been used by public
actors like parliamentarians or ministers in the past to legitimize a first generation of PTAs, the
emergence of a second generation in the 1990’s – centred on the constructive, interactive or
participatory TA approches – emphazises the co-evolution of technology and society rather than the
former linear determinist rationale. In this context, the STS community of scholars is increasingly
called upon by the public authorities to provide a “professional service role” (RIP, 1994), that is to
say to take a step into action out of the border of their intellectual engagement.
Then, we suggest to compare two successive periods by looking at the institutional management of
two distinct-but-complementary technological issues: biotechnology and nanotechnology. The
former has been taken into account by public actors at a time when the second generation of PTAs
was not yet rooted in the political practices. Thus, the management of the public debate related to
biotechnology has been characterized by a lack of sensitive, fruitful and interactive communication
between the stakeholders involved in the TA process, while the first applications were already being
commercialized. On the other hand, the latter is currently being tackled at a moment when the social
shaping of technology is widely acknowledged as well as the STS community may be invited to
pass from observation to participation in the political sphere. Given the uncertainty and complexity
encircling nanotechnology as well as its huge potential in many interconnected disciplinary fields,
the need to avoid the pitfall of the biotechnology’s experience is commonly accepted.
We offer to take nanotechnology as one of the most challenging technological issue to look beyond
the biotechnology’s roadblock and to show in which proportion the same scenario is reasonably
thinkable today, in order to spotlight whether we have learnt from the past in considering what is
1
sometimes called “a new industrial revolution”.
We will raise some research questions like: how different are current TA practices as compared to
former ones? Are there new regimes emerging? Given the current technological convergence, how
complicated would it be to deal with NBIC technologies if we missed the point with biotechnology
alone? How suitable is PTA to engage in such interdisciplinary issues? Are we assisting the
emergence of a third PTA generation around the growing role of the STS community? How does
this scientific community dialogue with the historians of science who analyzed the earlier industrial
revolutions?
Article for a general audience (Diverse speeches and writings)
Anticiper les changements technologiques pour ne plus les subir
Delvenne, Pierre; Charlier, Nathan; Chefneux, Luc et al.
2018
Carte blanche pour l'instauration en Wallonie d'un "Institut d'évaluation des technologies" : allons-nous encore nous contenter de subir les développements technologiques ou allons-nous choisir de les débattre, les questionner et participer de manière concertée à orienter leur trajectoire ?
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Toxic Tours et formation des professionnels de santé
Hache, Emilie; Lindgaard, Jade; Marty, Laurence et al.
2020In Lefève, Céline; Thoreau, François; Zimmer, Alexis (Eds.) Les humanités médicales. L'engagement des sciences sociales en médecine
Plus de 100 000 substances différentes ont été produites et mises en circulation depuis le début du XXe siècle. L’immense majorité de ces dernières n’a subi aucune évaluation toxicologique [1, 2]. En France, comme aux États-Unis ou au Canada, des enquêtes de biosurveillance à grande échelle démontrent que les tissus ou les liquides biologiques de tous les corps analysés contien- nent des PCB (polychlorobiphényles), du plomb, du DDT3 et de nombreuses autres substances chimiques produites par l’industrie 4. Nos environnements et nos corps contemporains sont satu- rés de substances toxiques industrielles. Cette imprégnation toxique est une condition ordinaire de notre époque.
Book published as author, translator, etc. (Books)
Le financement public des cultes et de la laïcité en Belgique. Quelles évolutions pour le pluralisme philosophique?
Thoreau, François
2010Éditions Universitaires Européennes, Saarbrücken, Germany
Paper published in a book (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Confronter l'incertain: les nanotechnologies et les "Science and Technology Studies"
Thoreau, François
2010In Piet, Grégory; Wintgens, Sophie (Eds.) La science politique dans tous ses états
Conference given outside the academic context (Diverse speeches and writings)
Comment Facebook a changé le Monde? Le rôle des réseaux sociaux dans les révolutions arabes
Thoreau, François
2011
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.
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
À propos du "trouble à l'ordre public": Dewey selon Stengers
Thoreau, François
2013Séminaire "Textes à l'appui", autour de La Vierge et le neutrino (I. Stengers)
Article (Scientific journals)
Action publique et responsabilité gouvernementale : la gestion de la grippe A(H1N1) en 2009
Thoreau, François; Cheneviere, Cédric; Rossignol, Nicolas
2012In Courrier Hebdomadaire du CRISP, 2138-2139, p. 56
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Article (Scientific journals)
La réflexivité : de la vertu épistémologique aux versions mises en rapports, en passant par les incidents diplomatiques
Thoreau, François; Despret, Vinciane
2014In Revue d'Anthropologie des Connaissances, 8 (2), p. 391-424
Dans cet article, nous proposons la mise en œuvre d’un dispositif d’enquête que nous qualifions de « diplomatique ». L’objet de cette enquête est la question de la réflexivité des scientifiques. Tout au long de l’article, nous explorons avec les scientifiques que nous avons rencontrés différents modes sur lesquels peut se décliner cette « réflexivité ». Toutefois, chacun de ces modes nous invite à considérer plusieurs manières de partager ce problème et de le construire avec eux. Chemin faisant, il n’y a donc pas que la question de la réflexivité qui bifurque, mais également le sens même de l’approche diplomatique pour laquelle nous avons opté. C’est à cette exploration conjointe des significations de la réflexivité des scientifiques et des modalités de la diplomatie que nous convions le lecteur.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Collective work published as editor or director (Books)
Little by Little. Expansions of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies
van Lente, Harro; Coenen, Christopher; Fleischer, Torsten et al.
2012IOS Press, Heidelberg, Germany
Little by little, nanotechnology has emerged amid enormous anticipations and fantastic promises of new materials, aspiring to manipulate our world “atom by atom.” While these grand visions continue to capture the imaginations of various audiences—and continue to be contested, as well—nanotechnology has developed into more than that. During the last two decades, many research programs and industrial R&D expenditures have resulted in actual products and tangible innovations. Nanotechnology, it seems, is expanding. But what does it mean to say that nanotechnology is expanding?
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
Comment les disciplines se reconstruisent dans des environnements hybrides et dynamiques
Fallon, Catherine; Thoreau, François
2015
Les chercheurs en sciences politiques et sociales, voire les philosophes politiques, sont de plus en plus souvent « embarqués » dans des projets résolument transdisciplinaires, portés par les groupes de recherche de différentes disciplines, engagés dans les développement scientifico-technologiques les plus pointus, que ce soit dans le secteur des nanotechnologies ou des biotechnologies médicales (pour citer deux exemples récents,Thoreau 2013) . Cet article prend comme point de départ un projet pluriannuel qui a obtenu des subsides pour plonger pendant une longue période trois chercheurs (philosophe, anthropologue, politologue) dans un centre de recherche en génomique humaine appliquée, installé dans une aile du Centre-Hospitalo-Universitaire. En tant que coordinateurs de ce projet, nous voulons aborder ab initio (1) la question des conditions d’exercice de notre démarche de terrain et (2) les conditions de notre service en tant que politologues au fil de cette trajectoire.
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Les exigences de la « terrestrialité »: une épreuve pour l’enquête
Thoreau, François
2015Staying with the trouble, avec Donna Haraway. Colloque de clôture du projet FRUCTIS
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Un problème de constitution – faire exister des catégories réglementaires pour les objets techniques
Laurent, Brice; Thoreau, François
2014Séminaires attachements organisés par Antoine Hennion
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Une dispositif de « commune écoute » : retour d'expérience d'une enquête par enregistrements de consultations d'endométriose
Riethof, Shana; Lebrun, Luce; Thoreau, François et al.
2023"Genre et gynécologie" : journées retour
Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
On being enrolled as an "embedded humanist" with nanotechnologists
Thoreau, François
2012Colloque "Sciences sociales embarquées" / "Enrolled Social Sciences"
Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)
Le calcul de la vache optimale: pratiques génomiques dans un centre de recherche biomédicale
Thoreau, François
2019In Lagneaux, Séverine (Ed.) Humanimachine: (re)configurer les interactions?
Peer reviewed
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
Thinking health par le milieu. A politics of inquiry
Thoreau, François
2022
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
Genomics infrastructure: holes, loops and partial totalities
Thoreau, François
2023
Scientific conference in universities or research centers (Scientific conferences in universities or research centers)
Diffusion de l'antibiorésistance dans l'environnement. Étude sur des infrastructures de recherche adaptées et construction d'un problème partagé.
Guilbert, Amandine; Thoreau, François; Eliçabe, Rémi
2023
Article (Scientific journals)
Conflict of interest policies at Belgian medical faculties: cross-sectional study indicates little oversight
Bechoux, Lucas; De Vleeschouwer, Oriane; Vanheuverzwijn, Cécile et al.
2021In PLoS ONE
Medical students encounter pharmaceutical marketing on a reuglar basis from their first year at university onwards. Several studies have demonstrated the impact it has on the perception of students toward the place of pharmaceutical industry in medicine. It also has an impact on the quantity, the costs and the frequency of physicians prespcription with a decrease in the quality. Thereby, importance of managing interactions between pharmaceutical industry and healthcare profesionnals is not to be demonstrated. These interactions happen in a context of decresing public subsidies granted to higher education and healt, which pushes institutions to increase their share of private funding with a risk of endangering their independence. This is to be taken into account, however medical schools should not lose sight of their role of providing the most objective and independent training for their students. Implementation of conflict of interest policies at American medical schools has permitted an improvement of the situation and a diminution of the interactions between students and industry. Since then, studies have been conducted in Australia, Canada, France and Germany to assess the conflict of interest policies within national medical faculties. As little information was available on the situation at Belgian medical schools, we decided to investigate the field and to reproduce the methodology used by foreign researchers in the context of Belgian medical training. We searched the ten medical schools websites for information relative to conflict of interest policies or element of the curriculum addressing this issue. We also surveyed each office of the Dean to ask them for additional information that we might have missed. Despite a relatively high response rate, only one faculty really wished to participate in our study, five of them having expressed their wish not to participate. A ranking of the medical schools was built on the basis of the data collected with criteria assessing the management of conflict of interest and industrial influence. Our results demonstrate the little attention paid by university authorities to the issues of independence in medical training and conflict of interest. This is inconsistent with many recommandations of international organizations and demands formulated by medical students themselves for an independent medical training, free from undue indluence of commercial interests. However, not everything has to be done. Foreign experiences show that it is possible to change the lines in favor of more independence. Many exemples of achievements can serve as a basis for actions in Belgium in order to make medical world and the public in general aware of the importance of a medicine without influence.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi