This journal is published in French only.

Simon Laflamme et Pascal Roggero

Foreword (p. 13-14)

Philippe Steiner

Mapping of the Exchanges (15-43)

Abstract: In this article, I examine the main typologies of transaction that have been built from Auguste Comte to Karl Polanyi, Marcel Mauss, and Philippe Descola. Then, I suggest to reconsidering Polanyi’s typology, the most common in contemporary economic sociology, and to limit the time span to modern societies. Accordingly, it is possible to map seven forms of transaction and the related institutions at work in our societies. In conclusion, the political consequences of the existence of these different forms of transaction are highlighted. Key-words: Exchange, gift, inheritance, market, Karl Polanyi, solidarity.

Bernard Ancori

Communication, Cognition and Creativity in Knowledge Societies. About Two Dilemmas (p. 45-93)

Abstract: History of science and bibliometric analysis suggest that the natural sciences, engineering and, to a lesser degree, medical fields, have been in a steady-state equilibrium for about thirty years. This article aims to identify one of the possible reasons of such a situation and to propose an efficient way to remedy it. The situation may be explained by the priority given since the early 1970s and especially since the mid-1990s, to social communication at the detriment of individual or collective cognition. An efficient way to remedy the situation would be, at least in some areas, to systematically develop collaborations in research between the academic world and the non-academic worlds. This argument comes in two steps. I will first point out the existence of two related dilemmas that emerge from the structure and the evolution of a complex socio-cognitive network of individual actors: the dilemma between the creativity of the global network and the individual proximities of the actors, and the dilemma for the latter to choose between communicating and cogitating at any stage of the network. The second step briefly sums up the evolution of the Western sciences and technologies towards a techno-science whose creativity seems to lose strength, then suggests that the generalisation of hybrid forums would give new vigour to today’s sluggish creativity. Key-words: Complex socio-cognitive network, communication, cognition, creativity, slow science, hybrid forums.

Simon Laflamme

Exchange: Between the Empirical and the Analytical (p. 95-113)

Abstract: What role does the notion of exchange play in human studies? This paper attempts to answer this question by first setting aside all epistemologies which do not position themselves between subjectivity and objectivation and then distinguishing between various uses of the notion of exchange, some of which are more or less empirical, some of which are more or less analytical, and all of which stand at the ever-changing intersection of a sense-producing science and an active empirical activity. Key-words: Exchange, epistemology, idealism, constructivism, empirical category, analytical category.

Lisa Lévy

Improvisers of Daily Life: Survey on the Essone General Council Development Project Leaders. Forms and Processes of the Exchanges Supporting the Territories of Projects (p. 115-158)

Abstract: Exposed to increasing levels of uncertainty, the planning model is facing a crisis that affects its theories as well as its methods and tools. In relation with varying structures of governance, some unidentified forms of territories appear, which support new methods of action. By working four years at a French General council, I could approach the planning projects that he managed from within and develop a perspective in which interactions and process of sharing appear to play a central role. Patterns and themes designed by these interactions can be associated to an improvisational action model. Generally considered in a pejorative way, I propose to see improvisation as an efficient way of building common identities and goals and coordinate action between actors. Observing the project managers practices drives to underline a capacity to listen, to build trust, and to foster a special commitment within a logic of giving and belief, which guarantee mutual exchange and active contribution to the project. Key-words: Improvisation, project, exchange, territory, planner, project manager, skills, listening, belief, gift.

Olivier Kahola

Hidden Gifts, Matrimonial Norms, and Inheritance Rules in the Exchanges within Households in Lubumbashi (p. 159-185)

Abstract: We regularly hear that Africans are socially linked. This glorious discourse hides many other exchanges forms between parents, notably helps towards families-in-law which are not known by the other spouse. Most of the time, people takes into consideration only the known realities on the public sphere as parents’ transfer of goods and cash for a good meaning of the so-called African solidarity. There is a double face between official and apparent solidarities (the accommodations) and non-talked or hidden solidarities (spontaneous helps) which determines family reconstitutions. Meanwhile, hidden helps raise the issue on limits between immorality and morality in applying solidarities. This article has two objectives, that of describing the different practices of solidarity in households and establish a link between the hidden helps and the matrimonial norms. Key-words: Gifts, hidden gifts, exchanges, legacies, households, Lubumbashi.

Philippe d’Iribarne

Exchange, Contracts, and Cultural Diversities (p. 187-203)

Abstract: The economic contracts theory suggests that their conception as well as their implementation is independent from the cultural context. Still, what the actors bear in mind when “contracting” varies from a country to another, according to the right and acceptable way of working and living–together that is prevalent locally. We will illustrate this idea through three examples: the variety of relationships between a development bank and its clients; the way a company describes its customer relation process in France and in the USA; the client/supplier relationship among Chinese companies. In addition, we shall see that the role played by the contractual reference in the functioning of both companies and economies is intimately linked to the American vision of the society. Key-words: Contract, culture, client, bank, USA.

Article off topic

Louis Giguère

Validation of the National Pattern on Health Services Development for Francophone and Acadian Minority Communities in Canada: Linkage with a Theoretical Footing and Modelization (p. 207-236)

Abstract: We proposed (Giguère, 2013), for francophone communities outside Québec (FACMS), a jurisdictional pattern that illustrates supply and demand for health services in French as a function of a critical mass of Francophones that reflects the linguistic vitality of these communities. We corroborate this pattern through statistical procedures of which one identifies a strong association between supply/demand (a ratio) and factors that represent linguistic coherence for the two official languages communities. This result is coherent with the linguistic vitality framework proposed earlier (Giguère, 2013) and the field work of Forgues, Bahi, and Michaud (2011) and the language behaviour and cultural autonomy models of Deveau, Landry and Allard (2009), Landry, Allard and Deveau (2007, 2008) and Landry (2012). We carry out simulations for the development of health services in French for FACMS in the context of a national framework which is coherent with these empirical and theoretical foundations. This modeling suggests two distinctive but complementary strategic approaches to stimulate the development of health services in French. Key-words: FACMS, French-speaking community, minority, community development, linguistic vitality, networking, cccfsm model, theoretical foundations, phase diagram model.