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Comments on the consciousness of the collective in sociotechnical networks The theory of sociotechnical networks bestows on objects the relative autonomy of which instrumental approaches deprive them. It focuses on how objects work and are used, aspects that semiological approaches overlook. As both instruments for aligning conducts and autonomous entities, objects construct networks that, once analyzed, can help us discover the workings of social coordination. Can society be reduced to being the outcome of the purely functional dynamics of these interactions ? Can we not take into consideration the aims of society, which are revealed through the externalized forms of the «consciousness of the collective» that persons work out together by agreeing on normative frameworks for their functional interactions ? Questions are raised about these two dimensions of technical solidarity by contrasting the forms of planned or distributed organization wherein they take shape. Question are asked about the political guidelines capable of defending, in a theoretical context, the integrity of human beings and nonhuman entities.

Toward inhouse law in firms ? Given both the decentralization of collective bargaining and the many legal forms (in particular, those based on company agreements and the recent trend to adopt company «charters» or «projects»), questions are asked about the emergence of an «inhouse body of law» within firms. Sometimes qualified as company self-regulation, this phenomenon leads both to new forms of inhouse jurisdiction (such as joint labor-management committees and other places of regulation), and also to a «proce-duralization» of rules that is inspired by the legal system. What is the scope of these developments, which, till now, have mainly affected big firms ? Do they destabilize labor law or generalize normativeness ? Such questions interest both sociologists and legal experts ; and merit attention from those economists and management specialists who are concerned with the evolution of firms.

«'Mediatizing» privacy During «reality shows» on television, real-life persons bare their private problems and feelings. How do they expose themselves during this sort of intimate broadcast ? The ways range from therapeutically staging experiences through attempting to solve practical difficulties to testifying about the social problems exemplified by the persons in these broadcasts. Although this «public space» is no longer oriented only toward having experts and representatives of the people define the general interest, the invasion of this space by intimacy must not be seen as its destruction, nor as a danger for democracy. This «intimate television» must be seen as redefining public space, by shifting the bounds between the private and public spheres so as to bring to light problems of identity and experiences that have, till now, been kept in the confines of privacy.

Experts and public policy in contemporary art : A FRAC 's purchasing criteria By observing the deliberations of a purchasing commission in a FRAC (Fonds régio¬ nal d'art contemporain) in France, light is shed on the way decisions are worked out in a situation predefined by the familiarity of experts with colleagues and artists. The mainly implicit definition and use of selection criteria allow room for arguments «on the margins». These arguments reveal the plurality of "logics" that, underlying judgments, enter into a hard-to-achieve coherence between heterogeneous constraints. The factors of coherence and uncertainty in judgment are successively examined as well as the ways of reaching certainty. The «work of extreme singularization», which characterizes judgments about the value of a work of art, and the quasi autarky of the world of experts and connoisseurs of contemporary art are brought to light.

The underclass question on both, sides of the Atlantic In France, the American concept of the underclass has been used to refer to certain lower-class neighborhoods. Major currents in this sociological literature on both sides of the Atlantic are examined. In the United States, sociologists agree on defining the underclass as an urban minority that, in addition, is kept on the fringes in certain ghetto neighborhoods. Debate has arisen around three questions. What weight does the economic factor carry compared with the racial one ? How do specific cultural characteristics come into play ? How are social policies and a culture of dependence related ? In France too, certain neighborhoods accumulate negative characteristics, but without being a mirror of American ghettos. They are places where mixing occurs and where major government interventions are being made. They constitute heterogeneous cultural and social spaces. By using four criteria (segregation, integration, ways of life, social policies) to examine the literature, the inadequacy of the term «ghetto» is shown. The problems in these neighborhoods mainly stem from massive precariousness and stalled spatial mobility.