Valorisation at CNRS through the prism of sociology of sciences 

Valorisation has been an official mission of CNRS since 1982. Although research practices at the interface with the socio-economic world are nothing new, they have been facilitated since the 1990’s by a proliferation of new public policy instruments. To help them navigate this complex ecosystem, in 2017 the heads of the valorisation departments of the CNRS Institutes asked for reflective feedback on their activities, through a doctoral research. Victoria Brun began this investigation in October 2019, drawing on her expertise in sociology of science and mixed methods acquired during her postgraduate studies. This article presents several of the methodological issues of the inquiry she conducted.

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The Great Climate Fair: Semiotics of COP27

Béatrice Cointe

COP27 ended on the morning of November 20. If the results of the COPs are widely commented on, less is heard about their scenography. However, it says a lot about the state of the climate problem and how it is dealt with. […]

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Bruno Latour, 1947-2022

It is with great sadness that the Center for the Sociology of Innovation has learned of the death of Bruno Latour, who was for 25 years one of the pillars of our research center. He developed his research and teaching activities at the École des Mines from 1982 to 2006, carrying out a large part of the work for which he is best known. With Michel Callon and John Law in England, and later Madeleine Akrich and many other researchers, he led a radical renewal of the sociology of science and technology, through what was first called the sociology of translation, and then Actor-Network Theory – a theory soon to become internationally renowned. From his early days onwards, Latour […]

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Le soin des choses. Politiques de la maintenance

A book by Jérôme Denis and David Pontille published by La Découverte

What do a furnace, a car, a signpost, a smartphone, a cathedral, a work of art, a satellite, a washing machine, a bridge, a clock, a computer server, the body of an illustrious statesman, or a tractor have in common? Almost nothing, except that none of these things, small or large, precious or banal, lasts without some form of maintenance. Every object wears out, degrades, eventually breaks, or even disappears. However, do we really grasp the importance of maintenance? […]

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The deserters of AgroParisTech: beyond criticism

Morgan Meyer

A group of eight graduates of the engineering school AgroParisTech gave a notorious speech at their school’s last graduation ceremony. In their speech, they denounced the “destructive” jobs, the “social and ecological devastation” underway and the “war” on […]

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Le citoyen-usager dans la co-conception urbaine

Retrouvez les podcasts de la journée d’étude interdisciplinaire i3 qui a eu lieu le 30 mars 2022 à Mines Paris : “Pourquoi, avec qui et comment concevoir ? Le citoyen-usager dans la co-conception urbaine” organisée par Carole-Anne Tisserand (CSI Mines Paris) et Aliénor Morvan (SES Télécom Paris).

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