A quiet French country district is the site of a nuclear waste-processing plant. Francoise Zonabend describes the ways in which those working in the plant, and living nearby, come to terms with the risks in their daily lives. She provides a superb sociology of the nuclear work-place, with its divisions and hierarchies, and explains the often unexpected responses of the workers to the fear of radiation and contamination. The work is described euphemistically in terms of women's tasks - cleaning, cooking, preparing a soup - but the male workers subvert this language to create a more satisfying self-image. They divide workers into the cautious ('rentiers') and the bold ('kamikazes') who relish danger. By analysing work practices and the language of the work-place, the author shows how workers and locals can recognise the possibility of nuclear catastrophe while, at the same time, denying that it could ever happen to them. This is a major contribution to the anthropology of modern life.
Une analyse historique et sociologique des noms de personne (patronymes, prénoms, sobriquets) dans un village de la Bourgogne du Nord, et leur mise en relation avec les noms de lieu, fait apparaître qu'appellations toponymiques et appellations individuelles relèvent d'un même système et qu'il y a similarité entre catégories spatiales et catégories nominales. La même pensée organisatrice semble avoir ordonné l'un et l'autre domaine. Toponymie et patronymie constituent deux langages en miroir. Une continuité existe entre espace nommé et société dénommée. Au delà, c'est tout le problème des rapports entre système anthroponymique et identité qui se trouve posé ici.
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