La construction de l'altérité en contexte marchand : le cas de l'animal

Pourquoi celui qui me fait face est-il un Autre au sens éthique du terme? Pourquoi son statut moral peut-il parfois osciller d’autrui à simple objet? Vivre, pour un humain, c’est être lié à autrui par un lien particulier : un lien éthique. Ce lien se compose de deux termes, moi et l’Autre, et, entre eux, de la distance éthique, qui ne se déploie pas dans un espace euclidien. Cette distance est plutôt une action, que j’appelle « bonne distanciation ». De plus, elle relève en priorité de la conscience pratique et non de la délibération discursive. Que devient le lien éthique quand ce qui me fait face n’est pas humain? Depuis une trentaine d’années, les philosophes travaillent sur la question de la valeur intrinsèque de l’environnement. Leurs réponses se classent en quatre catégories, anthropocentrisme, zoocentrisme, biocentrisme et écocentrisme, que j’ai réexaminées à partir de la bonne distanciation face à l’Autre non humain. Il ressort de cette étude que l’animal représente le point de l’environnement où se concentrent les enjeux de la bonne distanciation face à un non-humain. J’ai donc resserré mon étude sur l’animal. Pour étudier empiriquement l’oscillation du statut moral de l’Autre, j’ai choisi le lien à l’animal familier vendu dans des boutiques d’animaux. J’ai étudié comment l’animalier, chargé de réceptionner, de soigner puis de vendre les animaux dans ces boutiques, fait osciller entre objet et autrui le statut moral de l’animal dont il s’occupe. Combinant observation participante et entretiens semi-structurés, j’ai examiné les éléments saillants et non saillants de la pratique des animaliers, les seconds étant la trame des gestes, des regards et des paroles de l’animalier pour l’animal, sur laquelle se détachent les gestes techniques. L’analyse des données m’a conduite à mettre au jour l’influence de deux logiques d’action, logique marchande et logique de soin, prédominantes dans le travail des animaliers. Les résultats montrent comment la bonne distanciation équivaut à l’arbitrage constant entre ces deux logiques, procédant en priorité de la conscience pratique et non discursive. De plus, plusieurs facteurs organisationnels influencent la bonne distanciation, qui varie aussi selon que l’animalier est anthropocentriste, zoocentriste, biocentriste ou écocentriste.This dissertation explores the fact that, depending on circumstances, the moral status of he who faces me may vary from that of an Other, in the ethical sense of the term, to that of an object. For a human being, to live is to be linked to others by a particular link, an ethical one. The distance that lies between me and the other may be better understood as “good distanciation” or the process of deciding how long the link should be, thus making what faces me either an Other or an object. Good distanciation takes place mainly in the sphere of practical consciousness rather than discursive consciousness. Furthermore, we tend to limit otherness to humans. New philosophies are emerging that study value in nature. These works fall into four broad categories, anthropocentrism, zoocentrism, biocentrism, and ecocentrism, which content I re-examine through the notion of good distanciation. It appears that animals represent the most problematic category of environmental elements as regards good distanciation. I have therefore centered my research on animals. The empirical part of the study focuses on the ethical link relating pet shop clerks to animals sold in pet shops. What is the moral status a pet shop clerk ascribes to the animal he takes care of and sells, that of a mere good or that of a companion? During five months of participant observation in 5 pet shops, I observed and assisted a total of 15 clerks. I have studied both codified technical skills that an animal caregiver must demonstrate and other movements, looks, words and sounds the caregiver makes or utters while taking care of an animal. Together, they reveal the work of practical consciousness in good distanciation. Results show that two logics of action, one of market and one of care, prevail in the daily work of a pet shop clerk. Good distanciation amounts to constant arbitration between these two logics and that it occurs mainly in the sphere of practical consciousness rather than in discursive consciousness

Ethnic Entrepreneurship In OECD Countries: A Systematic Review Of Performance Determinants Of Ethnic Ventures

This paper seeks to examine the evolution of determinants under scrutiny by academics publishing on performance of ethnic companies in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Using the systematic literature review method, we first provide a descriptive analysis of articles gathered, and then make an in-depth examination of the determinants focused on. A database of 40 papers published between 2002 and 2011 was collected – the topic was precise enough to yield only a few articles – from a wide range of journals. We provide a systemized summary of the current status of this body of work, examine areas where research is lacking, and explain why further study of the role of cultural and ethical values as determinants of ethnic entrepreneurship is critical

ÉTHIQUE DES AFFAIRES INTERNATIONALES - Une approche pratique par la méta-éthique

How should business people behave in an international situation where host country mores differ from home mores? The transformation of moral norms into actions is hardly touched by the literature in international business. Here, the author proposes to facilitate it through the use of meta-ethical concepts. One might fear that so high an abstraction level means the loss of practical relevance. Yet, an enlightened meta-ethical position brings real advantages for business people; e.g.: congruence between actions and discourses, aptitude to dialogue, or solid justifications for economically tough decisions. An actual example is given.Ethics; International Management; Meta-ethics; Universalism; Relativism.

Sciences de gestion : comment la quête d’excellence freine la libre circulation des savoirs

Professeures dans une école de gestion, nous menons, depuis des années, un dialogue réflexif sur nos pratiques de recherche et de publication. La gestion est un domaine de plus en plus populaire et où la concurrence entre écoles s’exacerbe. Les gestionnaires et les chercheurs des écoles de gestion ressentent un besoin stratégique d’excellence et de bonne réputation, ce qui passe, bien sûr, par la publication. Comment les contraintes actuelles de publication pèsent-elles sur nous, les chercheurs ? Quels savoirs produisons-nous dorénavant et pour qui ? Nous tenterons de répondre à partir d’un examen de nos propres pratiques. Notamment, nous verrons que des barrières empêchent l’accès à ces savoirs. Comment sortir de ces problèmes ? Toujours à partir de notre compréhension personnelle de l’intériorisation et de l’institutionnalisation des contraintes de publication, nous émettrons une opinion plutôt pessimiste sur les chances de l’accès libre de libérer la circulation des savoirs en sciences de gestion.As professors in a business school, we have long engaged in an on-going reflexive dialogue on our publication practices. Business schools are gaining in popularity which exacerbates interschool competition. Schools managers and researchers now face a strategic need for excellence and good reputation that translates in publications standards. How are we, researchers, affected by these new standards? What knowledge do we produce and for whom? We will attempt to answer through the critical examination of our own publication practices. In particular, we will see that newly erected barriers prevent access to knowledge. How can this problem be solved? Stemming from the analysis of the institutionalization of publication standards and again from of our own interiorized standards, our rather pessimistic opinion is that open access practices have few chances to unlock the circulation of knowledge produced in business research

Trace elements in urban garden and health risks

12th Urban Environment Symposium, OSLO, NORVEGE, 01-/06/2016 - 03/06/2016During the last century, global urban populations have increased very rapidly. In the context of global changes and with the need of food supply and recreation areas for these urban populations, green areas are developing. Thus, allotment gardens are expanding worldwide. However, the garden location and soil quality, which have not been taken into account beforehand, can induce health risks.For many years, the city of Nantes supports the allotment gardening. Attentive to the potential health risks associated with this practice, for instance the consumption of vegetables grown on contaminated soil, the parks and gardens and environment department has launched a program to check the soil quality of its 24 gardens towards pollutants. In case of soil and vegetable contamination, soil management is foreseen.In this study, three gardens were investigated (Eglantiers, Contrie and Batignolles). Soil and vegetables samples were analyzed. The spatial distribution (horizontal and vertical) of As, Cu, Pb, and Zn, in the plots of the garden, was determined, completed by a historical analysis of the site. The studied elements were quantified using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. To assess the transfer of trace elements in vegetables, its accumulation in vegetable samples was assessed after a digestion with aqua regia and a determination by atomic absorption.Trace elements contents were mapped. Significant As and Pb anomalies were observed in several plots of the different gardens. Moreover, the results showed different origins for the pollution and different levels of vegetable transfer. The results for vegetables were compared with the European regulation that defines the maximum authorized concentration of some trace elements in vegetables destined to human consumption. Some concentrations in vegetables exceeded the threshold level (e.g. Pb 0.1 mg kg-1 fresh matter (FM))

French law: what about a reasoned reimbursement of serum vitamin D assays?

International audienceThe number of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) assays has increased tenfold in France in less than 10 years, sometimes for invalidated reasons. In 2013, the French National Authority for Health (Haute autorité de santé, or HAS) limited the indications for serum 25OHD measurements to rickets/osteomalacia, older adults with recurrent falls, monitoring of kidney transplant in adults, and surgical treatment of obesity in adults. Our aim here was to note that other indications for serum 25OHD measurements are supported by previous literature and by a number of national and international recommendations, in particular the following: any situation of bone fragility, any chronic renal failure <45 mL/min/1.73m(2), any situation of malabsorption, clinical signs consistent with vitamin D deficiency or vitamin D overload, and calcium phosphorus evaluation. We suggest that the measurement of serum 25OHD concentration should remain reimbursed as part of these extended indications

Ostéopathies fragilisantes, maladie rénale chronique, malabsorptions, anomalies biologiques du métabolisme phosphocalcique : les bonnes indications pour un remboursement raisonné du dosage de vitamine D [Weakening osteopathies, chronic kidney disease, malabsorption, biological anomalies of calium/phosphorus metabolism: appropriate indications for a reasoned reimbursment of serum vitamin D measurement]

National audienceEditoria