On the Social Uses of Scientometrics: The Quantification of Academic Evaluation and the Rise of Numerocracy in Higher Education

Scientometrics is a type of corpus research which measures the scientific output of academic researchers and analyses underlying differences and inequalities among researchers based on their scientific outputs. This contribution discusses the history of the field since Eugene Garfield launched the Science Citation Index in 1963 and investigates its practices and indicators, such as the Journal Impact Factor or the h-index. This contribution places the development of the field in the context of the rise of ‘numerocracy’—a regime of power-knowledge which aims at governing large populations by numbers. By applying and extending Michel Foucault’s governmentality thesis, the authors point out the non-scientific conditions of scientific practices in corpus research and make the case for a socially reflexive approach

What determines social control? People's reactions to counternormative behaviors in urban environments

Social control refers to any reaction by which a bystander communicates to the “perpetrator ” of an uncivil behavior that his or her action is not acceptable. In 3 field studies, we examined the factors that affect people’s tendency to exert social control. Passersby in the streets were asked how they would react were they to witness different uncivil behaviors. They also rated their appraisal of the situation and the emotions they would feel. The results suggest that 3 factors are primary determinants of social control: the feeling of responsibility to exert it; the perceived legitimacy of social control in the situation; and the extent to which bystanders felt hostile emotions. These results have implications for how to reduce uncivil behaviors. Littering, failing to clean up after one’s dog, spitting on the sidewalk, urinating in public, playing loud music in the street, destroying public trashcans, aggressive begging, and parking on the sidewalk are all counternormative behaviors that occur in urban environments. Such behaviors are more and more often subsumed under the term incivilities, to imply that they have something to do with a lack of civility. Unlike delinquent acts, uncivil behavior

Dossier - L'administration sanitaire et sociale.

International audienceChapitres du dossier : 1) Politiques publiques et administrations sanitaires et sociales. 2) Les registres d'action : des outils, des savoirs et des dispositifs. 3) La diversité des corps professionnels : professionnalité et modes de coopérations