Micropolitique d’un être collectif. Variation sur l’institution européenne

• Main Author: Yann Bérard
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: Association Internationale des Sociologues de Langue Française 2017-11-01
• Series: Sociologies
• Subjects: European Union; expertise; institutional object; micropolitics; power center; translation
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/sociologies/6570

The term micropolitics does not directly refer to a localized power or to its points of application. Its spatial connotation is subsequent to its political function. For Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, the adjective micropolitical designates what constitutes both a break and sewing with the political horizon, according to assemblage modalities defined by the “power centres” which are responsible for ensuring the coordination and control of social activities. The micropolitical entry, transposed to the category of institutional objects such as the European Union, leads us to take seriously the translation work and the possibilities to act on the world at a distance which befit the power arrangements of this collective being. Based on an ethnographic survey carried out in an engineering consultancy specialized in development aid, this contribution explores the hypothesis of a consistent link between the need to govern at a “proper” scale and the mobilization of modern service engineering dedicated to community administration services. The opportunity to expand this approach to other collective beings is questioned.