The Superiority of Economists

In this essay, we analyze the dominant position of economics within the network of the social sciences in the United States. We begin by documenting the relative insularity of economics, using bibliometric data. Next we analyze the tight management of the field from the top down, which gives economics its characteristic hierarchical structure. Economists also distinguish themselves from other social scientists through their much better material situation (many teach in business schools, have external consulting activities), their more individualist worldviews, and their confidence in their discipline's ability to fix the world's problems. Taken together, these traits constitute what we call the superiority of economists, where economists' objective supremacy is intimately linked with their subjective sense of authority and entitlement. While this superiority has certainly fueled economists' practical involvement and their considerable influence over the economy, it has also exposed them more to conflicts of interests, political critique, even derision

La superioridad de los economistas

In this essay, we investigate the dominant position of economics within the network of the social sciences in the United States. We begin by documenting the relative insularity of economics, using bibliometric data. Next we analyze the tight management of the field from the top down, which gives economics its characteristic hierarchical structure. Economists also distinguish themselves from other social scientists through their much better material situation (many teach in business schools, have external consulting activities), their more individualist worldviews, and in the confidence they have in their discipline’s ability to fix the world’s problems. Taken together, these traits constitute what we call the superiority of economists, where economists’ objective supremacy is intimately linked with their subjective sense of authority and entitlement. While this superiority has certainly fueled economists’ practical involvement and their considerable influence over the economy, it has also exposed them more to conflicts of interests, political critique, even derision.Este artículo examina la posición dominante de la economía en la red de ciencias sociales en Estados Unidos. Primero documenta su insularidad relativa usando datos bibliométricos y luego analiza el rígido control desde arriba que le da su estructura jerárquica característica. Los economistas también se distinguen de otros científicos sociales por su mejor situación material, su visión del mundo más individualista y su confianza en la disciplina para resolver los problemas de mundo. Estas características constituyen lo que aquí se llama la superioridad de los economistas, cuya supremacía objetiva está ligada íntimamente a la sensación subjetiva de tener autoridad y derecho a ella. Esa superioridad alienta su intervención práctica y su gran influencia en la economía, pero también los expone a conflictos de interés, a la crítica política e incluso al ridículo

49.3 l'automne

Réflexion sur les usages du 49.

Sectes, la fin de l'exception française?

Article invitéSelon une rumeur persistante, le gouvernement a annoncé le rattachement de la Mission interministérielle de Vigilance et de Lutte contre les dérives sectaires (MIVILUDES) à un comité en charge de lutte contre la radicalisation. Etienne Ollion, auteur de Raison d'État. Histoire de la lutte contre les sectes, revient sur cette exception française. Il insiste alors sur ce qui rapproche la question des sectes et celle du djihad : une manière de psychologiser pour mieux gouverner

Enquêter en terrain clivé

International audienc

Enquêter en terrain clivé

International audienc

Changer de vie. Les députés novices et la condition politique au XXIe siècle

International audienceThe 2017 legislative elections witnessed the arrival of dozens of political novices, individuals who never had had any political activity - be it an elected position, an occupation in politics, or even a membership in a party. This arrival of novices was all the more so remarkable at it was both massive and a rare event. Over the past decades, the French political field had indeed become even more closed upon itself, making this intrusion of over a hundred of them statistically unlikely. This article focuses on these newcomers. But instead of exploring, as is conventionally done, the way they learn their craft, the role they craft for themselves, or again the discrimination they experience in the access to power, it uses them to investigate what I term the “contemporary political condition.” An immersive ethnography carried out at the French Parliament during the first year reveals three salient traits. Novice MPs expressed surprise at the dilated (not frenetic) pace of work; at the unexpected (and often unwanted) publicity; or again at the agonistic way of carrying out politics, even in a vastly renewed legislature.Les élections de 2017 ont plongé au coeur de la politique nationale plusieurs dizaines de personnes qui n'avaient jamais eu de mandat, de responsabilité, voire d'engagement politique. Cette arrivée de novices fut aussi massive qu'elle est rare. Depuis plusieurs décennies, la fermeture du champ politique sur lui-même avait rendu ces parcours statistiquement improbables. L'article propose d'étudier ces nouveaux entrants. Mais plutôt que d'étudier leur apprentissage du métier, la construction d'un rôle, ou les inégalités d'accès à différentes positions de pouvoir déjà bien documentés par d'autres travaux, il utilise cette entrée pour éclairer la condition politique contemporaine. L'ethnographie et les entretiens menés auprès de novices en politique révèlent trois traits saillants : les rythmes de travail dilatés ; la publicité que reçoivent les élus suite à leur entrée dans la sphère publique ; ou encore une conception dominante de la politique comme activité orientée autour de « coups ». Analyseurs en action des règles qui organisent un espace très codifié, les novices révèlent certaines normes du champ politique actuel. L'étude éclaire alors d'un autre jour les logiques d'accès différentiel à l'espace et à la parole publiques

The Great Regression. Machine Learning, Econometrics, and the Future of Quantitative Social Sciences

International audienceWhat can machine learning do for (social) scientific analysis, and what can it do to it? A contribution to the emerging debate on the role of machine learning for the social sciences, this article offers an introduction to this class of statistical techniques. It details its premises, logic, and the challenges it faces. This is done by comparing machine learning to more classical approaches to quantification – most notably parametric regression– both at a general level and in practice. The article is thus an intervention in the contentious debates about the role and possible consequences of adopting statistical learning in science. We claim that the revolution announced by many and feared by others will not happen any time soon, at least not in the terms that both proponents and critics of the technique have spelled out. The growing use of machine learning is not so much ushering in a radically new quantitative era as it is fostering an increased competition between the newly termed classic method and the learning approach. This, in turn, results in more uncertainty with respect to quantified results. Surprisingly enough, this may be good news for knowledge overall

The Great Regression. Machine Learning, Econometrics, and the Future of Quantitative Social Sciences

International audienceWhat can machine learning do for (social) scientific analysis, and what can it do to it? A contribution to the emerging debate on the role of machine learning for the social sciences, this article offers an introduction to this class of statistical techniques. It details its premises, logic, and the challenges it faces. This is done by comparing machine learning to more classical approaches to quantification – most notably parametric regression– both at a general level and in practice. The article is thus an intervention in the contentious debates about the role and possible consequences of adopting statistical learning in science. We claim that the revolution announced by many and feared by others will not happen any time soon, at least not in the terms that both proponents and critics of the technique have spelled out. The growing use of machine learning is not so much ushering in a radically new quantitative era as it is fostering an increased competition between the newly termed classic method and the learning approach. This, in turn, results in more uncertainty with respect to quantified results. Surprisingly enough, this may be good news for knowledge overall

Retour sur la professionnalisation politique

International audienceAn extensive literature review on the topic of "political professionalization" in the French social sciences, this article has two goals. The first one is to specify the ways in which this term has been used in the past decades. The article delineates three implicit definitions of political professionalization: according to the time spent in the political field; according to the occupational trajectory of the person; or according to the knowledge acquired and ethos developed to fully thrive in the job. From there, the text identifies and discusses some of the most pressing issues researchers in this area are currently faced with, whether they deal with conceptual aspects or with the measure of the phenomena. It also calls for a deeper engagement with the literature on work and occupation. Overall, the article sheds lights on some of the most important transformations undergone by the French political field in the past decades.À partir d'une revue de littérature extensive des travaux portant sur la professionnalisation politique en France, cet article précise les différentes manières dont ce terme a été mobilisé au cours des dernières décennies. Il montre que, outre la définition classique empruntée à Weber, trois autres sens sont souvent présents dans les textes qui l'évoquent, au moins implicitement. Le « professionnel de la politique » peut être définit en fonction de la longévité passée dans le champ politique, en fonction du parcours professionnel effectué, ou en fonction de savoirs (faire et être) dont il dispose. Le texte évoque ensuite les principaux enjeux théoriques et conceptuels auxquels les chercheurs intéressés au phénomène sont aujourd'hui confrontés, qu'il s'agisse des questions de définition, de mesure du phénomène, ou de la réinscription de cette problématique dans un cadre plus général de sciences sociales. En filigrane, l'article donne à voir certaines des principales transformations qui ont affecté le champ politique en France au cours des dernières décennies