Michel Callon, Michel Foucault and the « dispositif »

I n recent years, many important studies have focused on performativity or performation of economics (among others, see Callon, Milo & Muniesa, 2007; MacKenzie, Muniesa & Siu, 2007). Together with authors such as Yuval Millo, Fabian Muniesa, Donald MacKenzie, or Lucia Siu, Michel Callon has played an important role in this field. Most of these scholars have highlighted the way in which economics performs real world. We will, in contrast, focus on the opposite. Drawing on the case of air traffic management (ATM) in Europe, a case we have been working on for about ten years, we will attempt to show how economics failed to perform this industry. Our purpose is not to offer a kind of refutation or falsification of the performativity theory from a Popperian stance. Obviously, this theory acknowledges the fact that economics does not always perform the economy. Rather our aim is to refine the theory, to pinpoint some paradoxes related to performativity or performation, and to bring forward thinkable promising research perspectives. We shall begin by examining what, in Michel Callon‟s perspective, constitutes and does not constitute the performativity of economics. Then, we will have a look at Michel Foucault‟s notion of « dispositif » (apparatus or device), to explore how Callon relies on Foucault, but also how Foucault can still be useful when approaching the notion of device. After that, we will present the selected case, air traffic management (ATM) in Europe. Finally, we will discuss this case in connection with the theoretical framework.Performativity; dispositif (device); European Air Traffic Management

Michel Henon, a playfull and simplifying mind

Several chapters in this book present various aspects of Michel Henon's scientific acheivements that spread over a large range of subjects, and yet managed to make deep contributions to most of them. The authors of these chapters make a much better job at demonstrating the big advancements that Michel Henon allowed in these fields than I could ever do. Here I rather present some facets of his personnality that most appealed to me. Michel Henon was a reserved person, almost shy, so it was not obvious for a young student to grasp the profoundness of his insight and what a marvelous advisor he could be. The two most prominent aspects of his mind, in my view, were his ability to simplify any scientific question to its core complexity, and to find the fun and amusing part in his everyday work, even in the tiniest details of his scientific investigations.Comment: Invited talk at the "hommage a Michel Henon" conference held at the "Institut Henri Poincare" Paris, GRAVASCO trimestre, autumn 2013. Proceeding by Hermann Press, editors: Jean-Michel Alimi, Roya Mohayaee, Jerome Perez. Videos of all talks are available at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9kd4mpdvWcBLrN8u04IZW6-akNgLG7-