Au-delà de l’intelligibilité mutuelle : l’activité collective comme transaction. Un apport du pragmatisme illustré par trois cas

Abstract

Beyond mutual intelligibility: collective activity as a transaction. The contribution of Pragmatism illustrated by three cases. Interactions are at the core of major sociological approaches to work. Some lines of research have accounted for cooperative interactions which include incommensurate perspectives. But in this paper we argue that the notion of interaction needs to be extended to the notion of transaction, deeply rooted in the American pragmatist tradition. The shift from interaction to transaction allows for the study of a wide range of situations lacking mutual intelligibility. The main feature is the coexistence of cooperation and entirely asymmetric perspectives, not just for a transitory moment in the process of exchanging perspectives, but as a stabilized configuration. Such contexts mean coming to terms with long unnoticed but increasingly topical components of work environments. To understand these singular forms of coordination with minimal interactions, we need to take account of the role of digital artifacts, third-party participants, and personal rhythms. This paper draws on three studies conducted in different organizational settings: a telephone traffic control center, a pediatric emergency room, and on-line gaming in the workplace. Where collective activity does not mean mutual intelligibility, the analysis turns to the various forms of life developed in the process of work, the intermittent encounters between commitments that are unaware of one another, and the workers confronted with their multiple spaces of activity KEYWORDS

Análise Pragmatista De Organizações

“…Parafraseando Chateauraynaud (2022), emprego uma expressão plural que denota a heterogeneidade dessas vertentes: sociologias de inspiração pragmatista. Em um breve levantamento, pode-se citar alguns exemplos dessas "sociologias": a abordagem das arenas e problemas públicos (Cefaï, 2017); a sociologia das transformações (Chateauraynaud & Debaz, 2017); a abordagem da ação situada (Quéré, 1997); a abordagem processual dos dispositivos (Dodier & Barbot, 2016); a história das práticas (Cohen, 2016); a practical action perspective (Ogien, 2018); a análise das atividades no trabalho (Bidet, Boutet, & Chave, 2013); a etnopragmática dos problemas urbanos (Berger, 2008); a pragmática das afeições (Hennion, 2013). O Quadro 1 indica as contribuições que julgo como principais dessas correntes ao avanço das Ciências Sociais.…”

Pragmatist Analysis of Organizations

“…Paraphrasing Chateauraynaud (2022), I use a plural expression that denotes the heterogeneity of these strands: Pragmatist-inspired sociologies. In a brief survey, some examples of these "sociologies" can be cited: The approach to arenas and public problems (Cefaï, 2017); the sociology of transformations (Chateauraynaud & Debaz, 2017); the situated action approach (Quéré, 1997); the procedural appdevicesroach of the dispositifs (Dodier & Barbot, 2016); the history of practices (Cohen, 2016); the practical action perspective (Ogien, 2018); the analysis of activities at work (Bidet et al, 2013); the ethnopragmatics of urban problems (Berger, 2008); the pragmatics of affections (Hennion, 2013). Exhibit 1 indicates the contributions that I consider to be the main ones of these currents to the advancement of Social Sciences.…”

“…This does not mean that all pragmatists must adopt this option; nor that those who adopt it give equal weight to the three levels in the analytic process. The perspective adopted is to invest in the intertwining of important dimensions for the understanding of transactions (Bidet et al, 2013;Quéré, 2020) at the three levels, although emphasizing certain level(s) according to the inquiry specific objectives.…”

Pourquoi dépasser l’image mécaniste du Charlot des Temps modernes ? K. Burke, le travail et le pouvoir des images

“…2. Une métaphore poétique : saisir ce qui compte depuis le travail « Il semblerait que la rationalisation scientifique ne puisse être corrigée que par une logique artistique -non pas l'art d'un performer, ou d'un spécialiste, que quelques uns produisent et beaucoup observent, mais un art de vivre » " 4 (Burke, 1983, p. 66, notre traduction 12 Cette fusion entre extérieur et intérieur, très pragmatiste d'inspiration (Bidet, Boutet, Chave, 2013 ;Bidet, Chave, 2015), nous amène à la métaphore poétique : « La vie est un poème au sens où, au cours de notre vie, nous tissons peu à peu une structure de liens qui fait écho à nos intérêts », écrit K. Burke (p. 254). Dans la mesure où le travail « à la fois, reflète nos intérêts et les forme », il contribue à ce tissage d'une unité qui vaut par elle-même : « le poème est une soudaine fusion, un amalgame de nombreux éléments auparavant séparés -et la force même de cette fusion conduit à rechercher d'autres expériences de la même qualité » (p. 158).…”